


Roses, Bees and Everything In-between

by Anthurak



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bad Puns, F/F, Fluff, Foursome - F/F/F/F, Humor, Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Pollination, Polyamory, Romance, Slice of Life, Threesome - F/F/F, Wacky Love Triangles, first date shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2018-11-30 16:52:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11467689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthurak/pseuds/Anthurak
Summary: Follow the wacky antics of Beacon's foremost team of ass-kickers as they realize that they're all in love with each other.Followed by many more wacky antics.





	1. Ruby Doesn't Know How To Be Jealous

“Uh… Ruby? What are you doing?”

Blake Belladona, Huntress-in-training, student of Beacon Academy and member of Team RWBY liked to think there wasn’t much that could surprise her. At least when it came to her team. After nearly two years of living together, she could say she was quite familiar with their various quirks, oddities and general eccentricities. From Ruby’s cookie obsession to Weiss’s neurosis to Yang’s horrible, _horrible_ puns. In short, there really wasn’t much her teammates did that could surprise her anymore.

However, Ruby brandishing Crescent Rose in front of her while giving a look like Blake had just raided every single one of her cookie stashes while simultaneously setting Beacon’s supply of strawberries ablaze? This was a new one.

“Uh… Ru-”

“Blake Belladona!” Ruby suddenly yelled, holding her weapon like she had just planted it as a flag with one hand while pointing at Blake with the other, “I challenge you to a duel!”

“…Why?” was really all that Blake could do to reply to that. Okay, this was _definitely_ a new one. She’d seen Ruby incensed and angry before, typically when someone ate her cookies, but never like this. Honestly, the way her face was scrunched up would have been quite adorable if she wasn’t also holding a giant scythe that Blake had personally seen bisect a Nevermore lengthwise.

“For Weiss’s heart! I won’t let you take her away from me!” Ruby declared.

“Uh… wait, What?!” So Ruby was apparently challenging Blake to a duel of honor over the affections of their white-haired teammate. That was… unexpected, to say the least.

“Ruby, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Weiss and I are just friends! I-”

“Don’t think you can fool me, Blake!” Ruby cut her off, “You think I didn’t notice all those dates you were taking her on? Seducing her with your dark and mysterious charm?”

Dark and mysterious… what?! Okay, so Ruby seemed to think that Blake was somehow seducing her girlfriend. Things were starting to make a _little_ bit of sense. A few months ago, after a good year of awkwardly dancing around each other, their team leader and the Schnee heiress had finally become a couple, and it was pretty obvious to anyone who saw them together that Ruby absolutely _adored_ Weiss, showering her with hugs, affections and more hugs at every opportunity.

So it did make _some_ sense that Ruby could potentially get jealous, assuming Weiss actually did start spending time with someone else.

And unfortunately, Ruby wasn’t… _entirely_ wrong. Blake and Weiss _had_ been going out for coffee (or tea in Blake’s case) quite a bit lately. And _maybe_ Blake really enjoyed her talks with the Schnee heiress. And maybe they _did_ call their little outings ‘dates’ a couple times. And there was that _one_ time she’d given Weiss an affectionate peck on the cheek and found her resulting blush to be absolutely adorable…

Oh.

Oh dear.

“Ruby, I know how that might appear,” Blake started speaking quickly while holding up her hands, trying to placate her leader, “but you have to understand, I am not trying to seduce Weiss! We’re just friends.” Not that Blake would really _mind_ being with Weiss if the white-haired heiress wasn’t dating Ruby and she herself wasn’t already dating Yang, and really, Yang _had_ made it clear she didn’t have a problem with an open relationship…

Okay, so maybe Ruby was a _little_ more justified in her feelings of jealousy than Blake would like to admit.

“Listen, Ruby, I promise you-”

“LIAR!” Really, if it weren’t for the growing look of genuine hurt in Ruby’s eyes and the gigantic scythe she was pointing at Blake, the way her red-clad leader squeaked out that declaration would have been pretty cute-

Gah! Focus Blake! She needed a way out of this quickly deteriorating situation! Maybe just run away as usual? No, Ruby was faster than her, plus that would probably just leave her sad and Blake just couldn’t bring herself to do that. Somehow she had to calm Ruby down, but her leader just wasn’t willing to listen to her faunus teammate at the moment. Maybe if she had someone else…

Blake’s thoughts were cut off as she heard the click of their dorm room door opening, revealing a wild mass of gold hair.

“’Kay so they didn’t have that grilled salmon you like, but they did have hali…” Lugging several bags, Yang Xiao Long trailed off a she took notice of the scene before her, namely her little sister/team leader waving her giant scythe in the face of the blonde’s teammate/girlfriend. Her reaction was as one might expect.

“Uh… what?”

Blake quickly sprang into action. She had to explain to Yang what was going on so the blonde could calm her sister down. She just needed to make sure Yang got the best first impression of the events that trans-

“Yang, Blake’s trying to seduce my girlfriend, so I’m challenging her to a duel for Weiss’s heart!”

Damn it.

Yang raised an eyebrow at Ruby’s declaration before looking to Blake. Alright, that was good. At least Yang was being sensible enough to get Blake’s side of the story as well.

“Yang, please understand,” Blake started talking very carefully, holding her hands up in a placating manner, “I have no desire to get between Ruby and Weiss. We’re just friends. I am not trying to seduce her-”

“LIAR!”

Now that Blake thought about it, it was surprising that Ruby’s repeated interruptions weren’t becoming annoying. Maybe it was the growing sense of guilt that Ruby might be somewhat justified in feeling jealous, or maybe because there was just no way Blake could be mad at her adorable leader…

“I… I just…” Having run out idea for the moment, Blake simply sent Yang a look she hoped conveyed both her regret and feeling of helplessness at the current situation. 

“Hmm…” Yang stroked her chin, a rare look of serious contemplation on her face. A look that said she was giving this situation the utmost care in consideration. “There’s only one reasonable way we can solve this problem.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blake did not see how this was AT ALL a reasonable way of solving this problem.

“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?!” Weiss yelled indignantly.

Given that she was presently tied to a post next to one of the outdoor training fields, Blake could sympathize with the Schnee heiress’s frustration at her current situation.

Of course, Blake happened to have other things to worry about at the moment.

“Good people!” Yang announced, standing next to the pole Weiss was tied to, apparently not caring that the only people present were the members of Team RWBY (plus Zwei), “We are gathered here today to settle a most grave of disputes! A dispute,” Yang paused for dramatic effect, “OF LOVE!”

Yang raised her hands high and wide, seemingly in some attempt to be more dramatic. Personally Blake thought she looked like someone attempting to milk a giant cow. “Here and now, it shall be decided who is most worthy to hold the affections and passions of the lovely Weiss Schnee!”

“Who shall it be? The brave and completely adorable Ruby Rose?” Yang pointed to one side of the field where Ruby stood, looking like someone ready to fight for truth, justice and the right of all sentient beings.

“Or the dashing and drop-dead sexy Blake Belladona?” Yang then pointed to the other side of the field where Blake stood, looking like someone who really wanted this whole fiasco to be over and not engage in an honor-duel with her adorable leader.

“Wait, WHAT?! Ruby, Blake what are you two doing?! Yang, why did you tie me up?! And why are you wearing a mustache?!”

“Because Blake wouldn’t wear it,” Yang instantly dropped her over-dramatic tone as she fingered the comically large and curly bit of fake hair resting between her nose and upper lip, “And I am NOT letting a perfectly good curly mustache go to waste!”

“Now, contestants…” Yang returned to her dramatic voice.

“FIGHT!”

“Ruby, please, can we just talk this out?” Blake spoke up, even as she tentatively held Gambol Shroud, “I didn’t mean to-”

“SILENCE!” Ruby declared, gripping Crescent Rose tightly, “Enough words! Now we fight!”

Blake groaned. It was too late. Ruby was already fully caught up in the moment. And really, could she have expected any less? She might love Yang dearly, but Blake would freely admit that the blonde was never one to deescalate a situation, particularly if her sister was involved. The two sisters always seemed to feed off of each other’s exuberance. Ruby would get fired up about something, Yang would get even more fired up and encouraging of her little sister, and Ruby in turn would become even more emboldened before she was charging off at whatever cause, Crescent Rose in hand. Normally, watching the two sisters play off each other was something Blake found rather cute and endearing.

“HIYAAA!!!”

Unless of course, the thing Ruby was charging off at was Blake herself.

Forcing herself out of her contemplative state, Blake sprang into action. Ruby was coming at her fast with her trademark speed, bringing Crescent Rose in for a strike from the right. Blake instantly dove to the left, bringing Gambol Shroud up in a deflecting swipe.

Ruby’s attack was coming in just little bit too fast for Blake to avoid entirely, but the faunus was able to move just far enough out of the way for her own blade’s deflection to make up the difference, the scythe blade glancing off of Gambol’s sheathed form.

Back-flipping further, Blake drew out Gambol Shroud’s thin-bladed sword with her right hand while keeping the weapon’s bladed scabbard in a reverse-grip with her left, just in time for Ruby’s next attack.

At that point, Blake finally pushed back her feelings of distress at the current situation and fell back on the experiences gained by the dozens of sparring matches she’d had with Ruby over the last two years.

Let it never be said that Ruby being accepted into Beacon two years early was due to favoritism or a fluke. After two years, Ruby Rose could easily be considered one of the most skilled and _deadly_ combatants at the academy.

A big part of that was the simple combination of the unique qualities of both the huntress and her weapon. When categorizing huntsmen and huntresses, it could generally be considered that there was a correlation between the size of a hunter, the size of their weapon and their fighting style. Large hunters typically used large weapons and weren’t very fast but hit very hard, while small hunters typically used small weapons and didn’t hit very hard but were very fast.

Ruby on the other hand, bucked this trend entirely. Between her small frame, Crescent Rose and her semblance, Ruby was in the position of being a _small_ hunter wielding a _large_ weapon who was able to hit very fast AND very hard. And then there was Ruby’s unique training and skill with that weapon.

It was often said that in battle a hunter’s weapon acted as an extension of their body. For Ruby, this wasn’t quite the case. Crescent Rose was a huge weapon, especially when compared to Ruby herself. When fully unfolded, the scythe was over twice as long as it’s wielder was tall, and weighed over half as much as Ruby did. Some might raise eyebrows at Ruby’s tendency to treat her weapon as a person, referring to it as ‘she’, sometimes cradling it and calling it ‘sweetheart’, but in a sense, that wasn’t far from the truth. Crescent Rose was so large and heavy it was less an extension of Ruby and more a separate person entirely. In combat, Ruby treated Crescent Rose almost as a dance partner. She would fling the scythe in one direction, and use its weight and momentum to pull herself along. Sometimes Ruby would spin around the scythe, other times the scythe would spin around Ruby. Blake could honestly say she had never seen any fighting style like it. It was unorthodox and unpredictable, the sort of thing Blake normally found fascinating.

At least when she wasn’t on the receiving end of it.

Sidestepping one of Ruby’s forward lunges, Blake found herself having to immediately dodge a follow-up recoil-boosted horizontal backswipe from Crescent Rose. Bending back at the waste, Blake made a backwards leap cleanly over the scythe. As she completed the leap, Blake instantly spread her arms and legs, going near-completely flat on the ground.

Most people tended to assume it was only the front end of Crescent Rose that was worth worrying about. Those people tended to pay dearly.

As Ruby completed her 180-degree spin, the back of Crescent Rose’s hilt passed harmlessly over Blake. Given the opening of Ruby’s momentary pause, Blake put all of her strength into all four of her limbs, flinging herself up into the air.

Normally, against most other opponents, Blake would have used this opportunity to drop a Shadow Clone and get some distance for a counterattack. But against Ruby, that kind of thinking was useless. Between her speed and the reach of her weapon, Ruby would close the distance almost instantly, and Blake would be right back where she started. The fact was Ruby and Blake were very similar fighters, except that for almost everything Blake could do, Ruby could do _better_. Ruby had the all-around better weapon, was over-all faster, and whatever reflex and reaction-time advantage Blake had (which weren’t all that much to begin with) was cancelled out by Crescent Rose’s insane reach and recoil-boosted speed. With Ruby, you just couldn’t think inside the normal tactics box.

So it was time to start thinking _out_ of the box.

In one quick motion borne of years of practice, Blake stowed Gambol Shroud’s scabbard on her back, switched her weapon’s sword to its pistol form and tied her long strip of cloth to it. As Blake reached the peak of her jump and began to fall to the ground, she hurled her weapons bola form down at her opponent. Seeing the oncoming projectile, Ruby raised her scythe to deflect it.

Which was exactly what Blake wanted.

With a practiced flick of the wrist, Gambol Shroud’s trajectory altered ever so slightly so that instead of deflecting off of Crescent Rose’s shaft, it instead wrapped around scythe.

And with a mighty heave, Blake wrenched Crescent Rose from Ruby’s grasp, sending the massive scythe flying some distance before embedding itself in the ground several meters away.

Blake quickly dropped a Shadow Clone, shunting herself away so as to land back a short distance, letting out a brief breath. Now she’d earned herself a respite.

Obviously, the vast majority of huntsman and huntresses tended to rely heavily on their weapon, and disarming a hunter would impede them considerably, and that went double for Ruby. For her, losing Crescent Rose rendered Ruby practically defenseless. Well, not _defense_ less per say. After all, Ruby always had her incredible speed. She wasn’t the tag champion of Beacon for nothing. When she was on her game, nobody could so much as _touch_ her if she didn’t want them to. But Ruby’s small and nimble frame came with a downside. Without her massive scythe, Ruby had virtually zero offensive options. Sure, she could always use her semblance to deliver high-speed punches or kicks, but without the requisite training or experience, Ruby would be likely to hurt herself just as much as her target. Blake knew that Yang had been trying to get Ruby to take up some unarmed combat training for some time now.

The result of all this was that separating Ruby from that scythe was the best and most reliable way to get her on the defensive. Any time that happened, Ruby would immediately disengage combat with her opponent and become totally focused on reclaiming her weapon, and in turn that opponent would earn a brief reprieve from the fight. And if they were particularly quick on their feet, a clever and/or skilled opponent might even be able to turn it to their advantage. Blake remembered one class sparring match in which Pyrrha managed just that. After Ruby was disarmed, the fight had devolved into a rather amusing game of Keep-Away, with Pyrrha parked on top of Crescent Rose, denying all of Ruby’s attempts to reclaim it. The simple fact remained. Ruby without Crescent Rose was not a Ruby on the attack.

Unfortunately for Blake, Ruby wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at the moment.

“GIYAA!!” Blake was taken off-guard as Ruby seemed to completely ignore the fact that she was disarmed and launched herself at her opponent, delivering a glancing blow to Blake’s shoulder as she shot past.

While Blake typically took her girlfriend’s side when it came to their leader’s training, in that moment she was _very_ thankful Ruby never took up Yang’s offer of unarmed combat training.

If Ruby was fast _with_ her giant scythe, without it she was near _blinding_. While Blake herself was very fast, she would freely admit that Ruby’s semblance gave her an edge up on Blake. Not by much, but enough to make quite the difference in combat. Of course, that generally assumed both girls had their weapons. _Without_ the giant scythe, the difference between their speed went from ‘notable tactical advantage’ to ‘Ruby running literal circles around Blake’.

Which was exactly what Ruby was doing right now.

Swapping with another shadow clone, Blake was barely able to dodge Ruby’s next pass. At this point, her clone-substitution move was about the only thing Blake had that could match Ruby’s speed over a short distance. Unfortunately, while Blake’s semblance was by no means aura-intensive, creating her shadow clones still cost Blake a noticeable amount of energy, whereas Ruby could spam her semblance all day long. In this pitched battle of evasion, there was no way Blake was going to win.

As Ruby made another blinding pass, Blake swapped with another clone. The miss was even closer this time.

Blake was out of options. She couldn’t catch Ruby, she couldn’t pin Ruby down, she couldn’t wear Ruby out… And actually hurting Ruby was _NEVER_ an option.

Blake took a breath.

There was only one way to stop this.

With that thought, Blake let go of her weapons, letting them drop to the ground.

It was time to bite this bullet.

“RUBY!” Blake shouted, hoping she could get her leader’s attention this time. “I’m… I’M SORRY!”

The blurry mass of red fabric and rose petals finally came to a stop several meters in front of Blake. Ruby didn’t look as fired up as she did at the start, but she still looked just as upset. Blake thought she could see streaks going down her leader’s cheeks.

“So you admit it?!” Ruby yelled, her voice obviously catching.

Blake let out a deep breath, preparing herself for the potential storm to come from this.

“Yes. Yes I was trying to seduce Weiss. I may not have realized it at the time, but that is exactly what I was doing. And I’m sorry.” Blake spoke as clearly and emphatically as she could. “I should have realized what I was doing. I think it’s wonderful what you two have and I would never want to hurt that, or either of you. Ruby, you and Weiss are two of my best friends, and that friendship means so much more to me than any attraction I may feel towards either of you.”

“I’m sorry, Ruby. I’m sorry I hurt you like that.”

Ruby’s eyes widened as she took all of this in.

Then, with a final, strangled cry, Ruby charged Blake head on. Blake didn’t move an inch.

Thankfully, Ruby wasn’t using her semblance, either some part of her brain still registered Blake as a friend or maybe she was just too tired at this point.

Even so, Blake felt the wind knocked out of her as Ruby slammed into her, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Lying on her back with the other girl on top of her, Blake got a close look at the state her leader was in. At the puffed up eyes, the sniffling nose and the cheeks that were soaked in tears. The whole look made Blake’s breath catch in her throat and her stomach clench. Blake knew Ruby was upset, but to see her in this state… And knowing that _she_ was the one to put Ruby in it…

“Ruby…”

“We’re supposed to be friends Blake!” Ruby cried out.

Blake stopped trying to talk. Clearly, Ruby needed to vent right now.

“Yes! I was angry, and scared that you’re spending so much time with Weiss, but that’s not the point!”

Blake could imagine where Ruby was going with this. She’d gone behind both her friends’ backs.

“You’re already dating Yang, and you’ve been spending so much time with Weiss. What about me?!”

Yes, tha… Wait, what?

“We never spend any time together! Not like you do with Weiss and Yang!”

Ruby suddenly broke her gaze with Blake, turning her face away, looking almost… ashamed?

“Do you… Not like me?”

“Ruby… what are you talking about? You’re my friend! _Of course_ I like you!” It seemed like Ruby wasn’t done with surprises today, because Blake had _no idea_ where her leader was going with this.

“That’s not it!” Ruby yelled, her gaze locked with Blake’s again, new tears streaming down her face. “I… I _like_ you, Blake. I’ve liked you almost as long as I’ve liked Weiss.”

Wait, so _liked_ like Weiss… Oh.

“And you’re always with Yang or Weiss…”

So many things were starting to make sense. The way Ruby was so often wanting to talk to Blake about her books, the times Ruby would awkwardly ask Blake if she wanted to read together, the fact that Ruby would never take sides if Weiss and Blake were arguing, even if Ruby was dating Weiss, the little glances Blake knew Ruby sent her when she thought Blake wasn’t looking…

“…I wanted to… I don’t know…”

And then there were all those times Blake made doubly sure that Ruby was okay during a battle. The way Blake would stay up late on missions just to make sure Ruby got enough sleep. The elation Blake felt whenever Ruby’s face lit up with joy. Or whenever Ruby woke the rest of the team up with a nightmare and all Blake wanted to do was blink to Ruby’s side, hold her close and tell her everything would be okay.

“…I thought… maybe you could like me too…”

In that moment, Blake acted.

Maybe it was the adrenaline rush from the fight. Maybe it was looking at Ruby’s tear-stained face. Or maybe it was just reading one too many romance novels.

“I only wan-MMPH?!”

Blake kissed Ruby right on the lips.

It was a light kiss, a soft pressing of their lips together, but still firm enough not to be considered chaste. The first thing Blake noticed was just how sweet Ruby’s lips tasted. Very fitting. Then she noticed there was a hint of mint to them as well.

Then Blake realized just what the hell she was doing and instantly pulled away.

“Ohmygods Ruby I am SO SORRY!” Blake was speaking very quickly again, trying to salvage this progressingly more horrible situation. Though Ruby seemed rather dazed by that…

“Please, Ruby I ju-MMMMPPHH?!!”

Ruby’s kiss on the other hand, was anything BUT light.

Her lips mashed hard onto Blake’s with the full force of nearly two years of pent-up feelings. Ruby’s passion was infectious and Blake immediately found herself caught up in the same rush. Lips were quickly parted, teeth began to clack together and even their tongues started brushing together.

Idly, Blake thought just how similar this felt to her first kiss with Yang. It seemed Ruby shared quite a bit with her sister. Blake was suddenly reminded of just who happened to be currently watching them. A growing part of her began to worry just what the blonde might think of this…

“WHOO! That’s my girl! Go get her Rubes!”

Well, that answered that question. Apparently Yang was being entirely honest when the blonde told Blake that she had no problem with an open relationship.

Blake couldn’t tell how long the kiss lasted. Time itself seemed to lose all meaning. It could have been moments or hours before Ruby finally pulled away.

The two huntresses stared at each other.

“Uhhh…” Ruby breathed out, still looking dazed.

Yep. That about summed up how Blake was feeling too.

Then they both heard the sound of a throat being cleared…

And looked up to find the white-haired girl they were supposedly fighting over standing over them.

Weiss Schnee looked somewhere between annoyed, bemused and something else Blake couldn’t identify.

“Eep.” Ruby instantly shot up straight, though still straddling Blake’s waist. “Uh… Hey Weiss… uh…” Ruby squeaked out in that cute way she did when embarresed while also scratching the back of her head in that adorably awkward manner of hers and WOW, how did it take Blake two years to realize she was crushing on this girl? Oh, right. Because she fell just as hard for the girl’s sister first.

Speaking of Yang… Blake idly glanced over to where her girlfriend and Weiss had been spectating. Yang saw her and gave an awkward wave.

It was awkward because Yang’s hand was the only part of her not encased in a large block of ice. Guess that explained when Weiss had gotten free.

“So uh… tying you up was totally Yang’s idea!” Ruby blurted out, still in a state of embarrassment/terror.

“Yes, that was fairly obvious.” Weiss replied, her voice strangely calm compared to before. “Ruby, get up. We need to talk.”

Ruby gave another squeak as she shot up to her feet.

“Blake, go wait with your idiot of a girlfriend. I think we’ll be needing to talk to you in a few minutes.”

Blake nodded as she slowly got to her feet, the implications slowly sinking in. Specifically, what Weiss may have taken away from the show she just witnessed. Blake felt a pit start to form in her stomach as she realized what this ‘talk’ could entail…

“Also…” Weiss spoke up, breaking Blake from her thoughts. The heiresses’ voice had shifted somehow, losing its even tone and sounding more… awkward?

“I’m… not mad. With either of you.”

And with that, Blake found the pit in her stomach evaporate and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. When the sound of her breath struck Blake as odd, she realized that Ruby was letting out a simultaneous breath of her own.

Weiss gave a bemused shake of her head before pulling Ruby away. And was it Blake’s imagination or was Weiss… blushing?

Deciding she had enough to worry about as is, Blake headed over to her icicle of a girlfriend.

“Uh, Yang? You okay?”

“Sure babe,” Yang replied with a grin. It seemed Weiss at least had the courtesy to leave the blonde’s face uncovered, “Just… _chillin’_ out.”

Blake groaned. Yep, Yang was alright.

“I still can’t believe you thought this was a good idea.”

“What? It worked didn’t it?” Yang replied.

“ _Really? This_ is what you call a success?” Blake sent Yang a flabbergasted look. “Ruby and myself in an honor duel that somehow ends with us kissing, Weiss possibly hating both us and you frozen in ice?”

“Hey, it got you two to admit your feelings.”

Blake’s thoughts came to a halt at that.

“…You knew about that?”

Yang chuckled.

“Blake, I’ve known Ruby her entire life, you and I have been dating for over a year, and the four of us have been living together for more than two. You really think I didn’t notice you and Rubes dancing around each other? Especially after she and Weiss hooked up.”

Blake gave a long, hard look at her girlfriend, before laughing in amazement.

“Yang, you are unbelievable.”

“I try.” The blonde grinned back.

As the laughter faded, another thought occurred to Blake.

“That ‘I’m okay with an open relationship’ thing was a hint, wasn’t it?”

“Hey, like I said, I don’t have a problem sharing.” Yang gave a similar talk to when she’d first told Blake, “But yeah, that was totally a hint too. Only reason I set this whole thing up was because you didn’t seem to take it.”

“Yes, well for most people, dating two siblings at the same time is considered… weird.” Blake drawled.

“Eh. Dad did it.”

Blake opened her mouth to ask what the hell that meant before deciding to file it away under ‘weird stuff the Rose/Branwen/Long family did’. It was quite the list.

“Oh, and I wouldn’t worry too much about Weiss either.” Yang directed Blake with a glance towards where their teammates were talking. Blake couldn’t hear what they were saying, she’d pulled her bow a little tighter and folded up her extra set of ears to give the two some privacy.

But it was hard to misinterpret Ruby jumping excitedly and pulling Weiss into a big hug. Or Weiss returning the hug in her much more subdued manner and giving Ruby an affectionate peck on the forehead.

Blake couldn’t help the smile spreading wide on her face. Regardless of what she might feel towards either her leader or her teammate, Blake was so happy for what Ruby and Weiss had together, and relieved that the day’s shenanigans hadn’t inadvertently driven them apart.

“See?” Yang spoke up, “Nothing to worry about.”

Blake had to admit, Yang did have a point. However…

“So… why haven’t you melted all that yet?” Blake looked over the ice that still encased her hot-headed girlfriend.

“Yeah, guess Weiss put some extra work into it this time. I’m gonna need to get extra hot to crack this stuff.” Yang then sent Blake a knowing grin and a wriggling of her eyebrows.

“Care to help me out?”

Blake chuckled before returning a similar grin.

“Not in public, dear. We’ll have to cart you back to the room before I can do that.”

Yang’s smile turned to a full face-splitting grin.

“Sounds like a plan. But I think you’ve got to deal with something first.”

Blake turned to where Yang was glancing to see Ruby and Weiss approaching. Ruby was smiling and Weiss looked… uncertain.

“So…” Weiss began, not quite making eye-contact with Blake.

“Yeah…?” Blake asked, though also sympathetic to whatever awkwardness Weiss was feeling. Unlike Ruby and Yang, who tended to just role with whatever crazy shenanigans came their way, Weiss, much like Blake herself, seemed to not quite be finished absorbing all the craziness that just transpired.

The awkward silence might have gone on longer if Ruby didn’t give Weiss a little pat on the shoulder. Weiss actually jumped a little, and this time Blake could see that she was _definitely_ blushing. A small part of her brain noted that it was very cute.

“…Ruby and I talked it over and… so long as you’re okay with it, we’d like it if you and I continued our coffee, er…”

“Dates, Weiss.” Ruby helpfully added, “They are _totally_ dates.”

“Right. Dates.” Weiss clarified, seemingly regaining some of her composure. “Also, Ruby would like to set up some… dates with you as well.”

“I was thinking we could do some reading dates!” Ruby interjected, back to her bubbly and exuberant self, “I really like your books, so I thought it’d be fun to… read them together.” Then Ruby’s exuberance then shifted back to shy awkwardness. “And… I was thinking we could maybe… you know, cuddle… and stuff?” Ruby scratched the back of her head as she blushed just as hard as Weiss had been.

For her part, Blake was still… _processing_ all of this.

This… this was _seriously happening_. Ruby and Weiss were both discussing the logistics of _both_ of them dating her, which also happened to be taking place only a few minutes after Ruby and Blake fought a duel of honor over Weiss, which by the way, ended with a somewhat-indirect love confession from Ruby _to_ Blake, followed by a passionate kiss between them.

Nevermind the fact that it was only in the past hour or so that Blake even _realized_ what it was she felt towards either of them. Realized she felt the same way about the two of them as she did for Yang. Two hours ago Blake’s only thoughts on getting coffee/tea with Weiss was what kind of tea she might like and not thinking about doing other things with Weiss like going to that art gallery they both liked, or maybe a romantic, candle-lit dinner at that one place they’d both mentioned. Or how beautiful Weiss might look on such an outing. And Blake had never thought about curling up with Ruby in bed with one of her favorite books for them to read, knowing that they shared the same love and passion for a good story, and knowing how affectionate Ruby was, and… and…

What exactly was the problem with Ruby’s and Weiss’s proposal?

…

…Blake couldn’t think of one.

Facing the two girls that she could now definitively say she loved, Blake smiled.

“Yeah, I like the sound of that.”

“WHOO!” Ruby cheered, “Ladybug and Monochrome are GO!” Weiss and Blake shook their heads in bemusement of their leader’s use of their attack code-names.

“YEAH! Go team Newspaper!” Yang added.

This earned her three different looks of confusion.

“What? You’re Black and White and Red all over.” The frozen blonde clarified with a grin.

Now Ruby was shaking her head in bemusement while Weiss opted to slap her forehead in exasperation. Blake simply smiled.

“Love you too, dear.” Since Yang had already given her blessings to this arrangement, it was only fair Blake make it clear that her feelings towards her first girlfriend hadn’t diminished.

“Oh, right!” Ruby spoke up, “There’s one last thing!” the rest of the team looked to their leader.

Ruby proceeded to put an arm around her partner’s shoulder and grinned.

“Weiss is _super_ jealous that she’s the only one here who hasn’t gotten to make out with you yet.”

The heiress proceed to turn as red as her partner’s namesake.

“R-RUBY!”

Blake chuckled.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to fix that.”


	2. Ruby and Weiss Vs. DATING

Weiss Schnee generally considered herself to be an expert operator. A problem-solver. A trouble-shooter. A girl who knew how to get things done. In hindsight, it was one several reasons why it was for the best that Ruby and not herself was put in charge of their team. Making the big decisions, inspiring speeches and the snap-calls in the heat of battle, those were all things that _Ruby_ excelled at and Weiss did not. All the behind-the-scenes planning, the research, the scheduling, the logistics, the paperwork, the countless little things that went into keeping Team RWBY at the top of their game, _that_ was where Weiss excelled. In short, Ruby was the one who decided where the team would go, and Weiss was the one who figured out how they’d get there. There wasn’t a scheduling or paperwork problem in all of Remnant that Weiss couldn’t solve.

“Uh, Weiss?”

Until today.

“Weiss? Hello?”

“Yes Ruby, I’m here. I’m just…” Weiss replied, looking at her partner, leader, and most recently, _girlfriend_ , on the other side of the table.

“Yeah…” Ruby replied, feeling a similar sense of unease at this unfamiliar situation. The one situation either Weiss or Ruby _never_ prepared for.

Their first date.

That was just the thing, wasn’t it? Both of them had trained nearly their entire lives to deal with the greatest problems the world could throw at them. Whether it was Ruby honing her incredible talent for Grimm slaying so she could go be the biggest damn hero Remnant had ever seen, or Weiss honing her combat skills while also preparing for the day when she could take over and pull her grandfather’s company out of the hole her asshole of a father pulled it into.

But dating? That was a new one.

Neither girl could claim to have much experience, more like ‘none at all’ at dating. Weiss of course learned from a young age that her dating prospects at home were limited entirely to those people who fit whatever agenda Weiss’s father had for her. And Ruby was always something of an introvert growing up, laser-focused on her huntress training with little time for potential romance. Also, both girls had the pesky issue of thinking they were interested in boys for the first twelve or so years of their lives.

Or, at least Weiss was. While Ruby claimed to have figured out she liked girls at eleven, Yang claimed she couldn’t remember a time her little sister _hadn’t_ been ‘Gayer than a Double-Rainbow’ (Yang’s word, not Weiss’s).

Speaking of the blonde, Yang, as well as Blake already offered help as the ‘seasoned’ daters of the team, but those offers had been vehemently denied by both Ruby and Weiss. This was _their_ date, dammit! Sure, Weiss’s initial reason for turning down help was because Yang was giving her that ever-so-slight smug look, like she thought Weiss couldn’t do it! But then Ruby had thrown her arms around Weiss and defiantly declared to their teammates:

“Yeah! This is _our_ first date! And we’re going to do it _together!_ And it is going to be _awesome!_ Because _we’re_ awesome! Right Weiss?”

Ruby then proceeded to flash her partner a smile that Weiss swore could end winter three months early.

Sweet Dust, how did it take her over a year to realize she loved this girl?

After Weiss gave Ruby as emphatic a nod of agreement as she could, the two girls proceeded to eject their meddling teammates from their room and set about trying to craft the most awesome first date _ever!_

The keyword being: Try.

They’d been sitting at Weiss’s desk for nearly two hours, and had come up with _absolutely NOTHING._

It should have been easy! As was already established, Weiss _excelled_ at this sort of event planning! And she had the endless fount of boundless creativity and crazy ideas that was Ruby Rose. Hell, thanks to Ruby’s little declaration to their teammates, they didn’t even have to worry about that bullshit romantic drama trope of people desperately second-guessing what their significant other wanted!

Except they were still second-guessing themselves. They were just doing it _together_.

What ensued was nearly two hours of half-baked ideas that neither of them felt comfortable committing to. Ruby would start a pitch, Weiss would start agreeing because there was really no way she could say No to Ruby right now, but then Ruby would backpeddle, second-guessing herself saying that her idea wasn’t good enough for Weiss and asking her partner what _she_ wanted. Then Weiss would start a pitch and the process would basically repeat with the roles reversed.

At this point, they were reduced to glorified spitballing!

“Okay,” Weiss attempted, “what’s the most romantic thing you can think of?”

Ruby tapped her chin in contemplation, trying to think of something. It was really cute.

“And don’t hold back!” Weiss quickly added. “Anything is possible!”

Ruby paused, before giving a big smile and an emphatic nod. Weiss noticed a certain gleam in Ruby’s eyes. The gleam that meant her boundless creativity was now off the leash completely.

“Uh… the two of us, killing the biggest, badest Grimm that ever lived with the coolest looking combination attack powered by pure Love and Awesomeness! And then, as we’re standing on its corpse and all the other Grimm are fleeing in terror, that’s when the sun rises and you and I have the Biggest Damn Kiss EVER!”

Ruby grinned at Weiss.

Weiss stared at Ruby.

Ruby’s grin began to fall.

“…Too crazy?” she ventured.

“…Unfortunately, yes. Not very practical. Though it _is_ something to keep in mind…” Weiss trailed off as the mental images continued to bounce around her head. That _did_ sound pretty… _amazing_. Especially when Weiss made a certain addition that included herself slipping a certain ring onto Ruby’s finger…

Gah! Not now! They needed to focus!

“Hmm… Okay, then. How about you, Weiss?” Thankfully, Ruby wasn’t particularly disheartened by Weiss shooting down her idea, and bounced back immediately. “Most romantic thing you can think of!”

“Oh, uh…” Weiss stammered, chewing her lip in a way Ruby herself found incredibly cute. Random, off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment plans were _Ruby’s_ thing, not hers!

“Er… us on the front of a ship… me uh, holding you up, or you holding me! The… wind in our faces… or something?”

“So… that one scene from _Britannic_?”

“Uh… yeah?” Weiss ventured uneasily. Funny how she went to a movie that was one of Team RWBY’s favorite subjects of mockery for MST5K night.

“Well, if that’s what you wan-”

“No! It’s a terrible idea!” Weiss shouted, “It’s way too corny! Or… not corny enough… Gah! It’s not practical either. And it’s really stupid just trying to do a scene from a movie! But… if you want to do it…”

“Uh, Weiss, it was _your_ idea…” Ruby ventured, sounding a little uneasy.

“Nooo!” Weiss gripped her head in frustration, “That’s not the point! Or it… is the point? AHHH!! This is getting us nowhere! That’s why that idea is terrible!”

“Weiss?”

Weiss was practically ringing her own head at this point, her mind feeling like it was really to burst in frustration.

“There has to be better ideas than that! One that’s perfect for both of us that’ll be an amazing night! Maybe that skysurfing idea of yours isn’t so bad, but it’s not very practical, but if you really… maybe… with the… and th-”

“WEISS!”

Weiss finally stopped at the sound of Ruby shouting and the feeling a small hand gripping her shoulder. Her eyes refocusing, Weiss saw Ruby leaning across the table, an uneasy smile on her face as she got Weiss’s attention.

“Do you… want to take a break?”

Weiss stared blankly for a moment. Then her hands fell from her head.

“…Yes. Yes, that sounds… good.”

“You wanna go get some ice cream?”

“I… I’d like that, yes.”

\----------------------------------------------------------

While Ruby might be much more open with her love of all things sugary and sweet, that by no means meant her partner and girlfriend didn’t enjoy the occasional treat as well. In fact, Weiss had a particular appreciation for ice cream. Of course, this was something Weiss typically kept to herself, what with the potential parallels for people to draw between a chilly dessert and her ‘cold Schnee heart’. Or just awful ‘Weiss Cream’ puns.

But Ruby never brought up either of those points. In fact, after Weiss off-handedly mentioned it one time, Ruby was completely aghast at the very idea of it. She’d then pulled Weiss into a huge hug and told her they could go out for ice cream whenever Weiss wanted, as well as promising to beat up _anyone_ who dared to call Weiss cold-hearted.

And that was just one of the many, _many_ reasons why she loved Ruby.

In fact, Weiss had taken Ruby up on her first offer. For the past few months, the two had taken to visiting a small ice cream shop in Vale every Friday after classes. It was a nice way to unwind after a week and prepare for any weekend adventures.

Weiss sighed in contentment as she took a sip from her milkshake, a wondrous concoction of vanilla, fudge and mint. Across the small table, Ruby vigorously attacked a massive sundae that only seemed to be 40 percent ice cream, the other 60 percent being made up of brownie and cookie. By this point, the pair was well known at this establishment.

Looking over the table, Weiss could see Ruby’s eyes sparkling in delight with every bite she took. Letting her chin rest on her palm, Weiss took in the image before her, an image that warmed her heart even as she sipped her chilled drink. Then Weiss realized that Ruby was looking at her, a wide smile on her face.

“What?”

“You’re smiling!” Ruby declared, “I think you’ve only smiled like, twice today.”

“Oh…” Weiss replied, feeling the urge to turn away as she felt her cheeks heat up. It was funny, coming from anyone else, that statement probably would have elicited some manner of annoyance from Weiss. But coming from Ruby…

“…Thanks.” Just what was Weiss thanking Ruby for? The comment? The smile? The suggestion they come here? Or just… _being_ here with her, in general.

All of the above, without a doubt.

Ruby chuckled at her girlfriend’s bashfulness as she went back to her sundae.

“You know, I think this turned out pretty well for a first date.”

Weiss’s thoughts ground to a halt.

“Ruby, what are you talking about? We’re still trying to plan our first date!”

“Well yeah, but think about it. We’re out, doing something together, just the two of us, for the first time since we hooked up. Sounds like a ‘first date’ to me.”

Weiss was speechless. 

“Bu… But what about all that planning? We just spent two hours cooped up in the room banging our heads against the wall!”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Ruby spoke up, trying to calm Weiss down, “We can still do an awesome date some other time.”

“But… this is our _first_ date! Isn’t it supposed to special?” Weiss could almost feel a headache starting as she tried to reconcile all the chaotic thoughts storming in her head. She knew Ruby had a point, but…

“Well, I think this is pretty special.” Ruby replied thoughtfully.

“Ruby, we’ve been doing _this,_ ” Weiss waved her hand to indicate the ice-cream shop around them, “for months! What makes this time so different from all the others we’ve been here?”

Ruby seemed to consider Weiss’s question for a moment.

Then she smiled.

“Because we weren’t doing _this_.”

And with that, Ruby stood up, leaned across the table, and pressed her lips to Weiss’s.

And with that, all of Weiss’s confusion, stress and uncertainty melted away like so much snow in the Spring. The achingly soft, yet intensely firm feeling of Ruby’s lips against her own, the way even the smallest part of them just seemed to _fit_ together so perfectly, the taste of that sugary sweet combination of chocolate, strawberries and something else that Weiss couldn’t place that couldn’t be anything else but _Ruby_.

It seemed that with all of Ruby’s kisses, Weiss couldn’t tell just how much time passed before they finally separated. And like with the others, Weiss wished it could’ve gone on a little longer…

Ruby pulled back, though only a little. She was still leaning across the table, her face just a few inches away, her eyes locked with Weiss’s own, a big smile on her face.

Weiss was silent for a moment. Then she chuckled.

“You dolt…”

“That’s ‘your’ dolt.” Ruby’s smile turned just a bit mischievous.

Weiss couldn’t help chuckling more.

Yeah, this _was_ a pretty good first date.


	3. Weiss REALLY Wants to Punch Yang In the Face

Weiss Schnee was _not_ having a good day.

To begin with, Ruby had an early-morning ‘Team Leader’ class that pulled her out of bed _fair_ too early for Weiss’s preference. She might not admit it to… well, anyone really, but Weiss was _extremely_ appreciative of how clingy and cuddle-happy her leader got in bed, to the point where it was rather shocking just how empty and… _cold_ their bed felt without Ruby in it.

Of course, Weiss always had the option to simply crawl out of bed and curl up with _Blake_ in her bed, with Yang on her opposite side for minimal awkwardness.

Unfortunately, Weiss’s sleep-addled brain didn’t actually think of that option until _after_ she and the rest of the team were already up. The fact that Yang pointed it out to her and made Weiss feel like a complete idiot only made things worse.

Compounding matters was the fact that Blake and Yang _also_ had some early classes to attend, meaning that Weiss was effectively on her own for the rest of the morning. How strange, considering that two years ago, Weiss wouldn’t have batted an eye at being left alone for any amount of time, but now…

There was no way sugar-coat it. Weiss _missed_ her teammates. She missed her girlfriends. She even missed _Yang_. Sure, it wasn’t like Weiss was normally so emotionally helpless without her teammates, but the way each of her teammates seemed to be pulled away one after the other this morning just left Weiss in a generally foul mood.

And then breakfast happened.

Apparently Jaune was feeling particularly suicidal this morning and tried to make a pass at Weiss in the cafeteria. In her current state, Weiss very much wanted to light the annoying idiot on fire, maybe stab him a few… dozen times. But unfortunately, Pyrrha liked Jaune, and Weiss liked Pyrrha. So in deference to a girl Weiss respected immensely despite being far, _far_ too good for the idiot she was crushing on, Weiss instead opted to give Jaune a withering death glare that sent the blonde scurrying away like the frightened rodent he was. Weiss also made a mental note to make a formal request to her teammates that whoever sparred with Jaune next, _kick his ass_. _HARD._

Then one of the idiots from team CRDL spilled coffee on her.

It was probably a good thing he immediately fled in terror, though unfortunately that left Weiss without an outlet for her rapidly building frustration.

And that spilled coffee incident just _happened_ to make Weiss late for her first class, which _also_ just happened to be taught by Professor Tremaine, who _just so happened_ to have _the_ strictest tardy policy at Beacon.

Also, her favored seat was taken by one Velvet Scarlatina, who unfortunately was a very sweet and kind girl that Weiss had absolutely no right getting angry at, meaning her only option was to simply bottle up her simmering annoyance, frustration and general _RAGE_ at the universe.

After that class, Weiss was frankly _hoping_ to run into that idiot from CRDL who spilled coffee on her. Or one of his teammates. Weiss wasn’t feeling picky as to who to turn into a human pincushion right now.

NO. No, she couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t do Weiss _any_ good to just _snap_ like that. It wasn’t proper for a girl of her standing. _Especially_ when that girl was aiming to one day take control of a multi-billion lien company. Weiss knew she was going to face inevitable smear campaigns when she eventually challenged her father for the SDC throne. No reason to give that asshole extra ammunition in the form of a temper tantrum when she was a teenager.

So Weiss _wouldn’t_ be maiming anyone. She’d just keep a lid on all this just like she’d always done.

Just keep. It all. _In._

As she nursed her growing migraine while _trying_ to study in the library, Weiss wasn’t sure how this day could get any _worse_.

“Weiss, I wanna fight you for Blake.”

Weiss slowly looked up from the book she was reading to see her blonde teammate standing over her.

“…What?”

“I wanna fight you for Blake. I won’t let you take her away from me.”

And apparently Yang had spontaneously decided to become a jealous lover.

“Yang, what are you talking about?! All of us already agreed on this arrangement!”

“Yeah, I know.” Yang replied with a smile. Despite claiming to be a jealous lover, Yang didn’t actually look angry at all. In fact, the look she was giving Weiss was familiar somehow…

Oh.

“…You’re just trying to get us to fight over Blake like that time Ruby and Blake fought over me.”

“Pretty much.” Yang shrugged, still grinning.

Weiss felt her migraine seemingly double in intensity. _This_ was it? Actually, this seemed rather fitting. After the _garbage fire_ of a day she’d had, Yang trying to orchestrate a catfight with Weiss seemed _par for the course_ at this point. The fact that Yang _wasn’t even angry_ made it even worse! It wasn’t about love or jealousy, Yang was doing this for _shits and giggles!_

And being reminded of Ruby’s and Blake’s fight brought up the _other_ things Yang did that day. Like unceremoniously _kidnapping_ Weiss from the library and _tying her to a post!_

It all made Weiss want to… want to…

Actually…

“You know what? Fuck it.” Weiss spoke.

“Let’s do this.”

And Yang had the gall to only grin wider.

\---------------------------------------------------------

“Weiss, you know you don’t have to do this, right?” Ruby asked uneasily.

Team RWBY’s current situation did have a certain déjà vu for the members. Albeit, the positions were somewhat reversed and nobody was tied to a pole.

“Ruby, I’m sorry, but punching your sister in the face sounds _really_ therapeutic right now.”

“That’s the spirit Weiss!”

“SHUT UP! I’m trying to be mad at you!”

Weiss let out a sigh of exasperation as she turned back to her girlfriend/partner, “You see what I mean?” Part of Weiss did feel bad for Ruby. She just heard her girlfriend talk about wanting to punch her sister in the face. That couldn’t be easy for someone as nice as Ru-

“Oh, _totally._ Trust me, I’ve been there too.”

…Or maybe not.

“It’s just that… well…” Ruby spoke uneasily, “you’re not exactly in your wheelhouse here…”

Yes… that was probably the biggest change from the last time the team did this.

Whereas Ruby’s and Blake’s fight had been akin to an epic duel between seasoned huntresses, Weiss’s and Yang’s fight would be a bit more… personal.

No weapons, no semblances, just the two of them in a ring with nothing but simple gym clothes and boxing gloves.

And yes, that sort of battle didn’t exactly play to Weiss’s strengths. Of course, if Weiss was fighting Ruby, Blake or many of the other hunters at Beacon, it wouldn’t be a huge problem, as this sort of setting didn’t play to the strengths of most any hunter.

But then, Weiss _wasn’t_ fighting most any hunter. She was fighting _Yang Xiao Long_. The woman whose weapons were basically glorified boxing gloves. The woman who was Beacon’s foremost hand-to-hand combat specialist. The woman whom even Pyrrha Nikos, Beacon’s resident Ace student, could only manage a draw against in hand-to-hand.

That certainly begged the question as to why Weiss, refined, elegant, _squishy, totally-reliant-on-her-weapon-and-semblance_ Weiss had even _considered_ this to be a good idea. The answer was actually quite simple.

Weiss really, _really, **REALLY**_ wanted to punch Yang in that sexy face of hers.

Sure, there were many times over the past thirty minutes where Weiss realized that this was a colossally STUPID idea, that her chances of beating Yang were about as good as a cookie lasting more than a minute while within arm’s reach of Ruby, that trying to punch those boobs of steel were more likely to hurt _Weiss_ than Yang and why was she focused on Yang’s boobs? She wanted to punch the blonde in the _face_ dammit!.

But then Yang would smile at her. Smile one of those damned cocky grins of hers. Like the blonde was completely and utter _certain_ that Weiss stood no chance. She was so certain, Yang was actually giving _encouragement_ to Weiss!

And that, _THAT_ , Weiss could just not stand for.

It made Weiss want to knock that smug grin clean off of Yang’s face. It made her want to knock Yang to the ground with her own two hands, to pin Yang down and make her _beg for mercy_. Yes… the thought of Yang sprawled out, writhing under Weiss’s grip… _Yes…_

Standing next to her partner/girlfriend, Ruby gave an uneasy chuckle at the rather… _predatory_ grin Weiss now sported. And the way she licked her lips expectedly.

“Uh… yeah. Go get her Weiss!” Ruby had to wonder if there was an inadvertent double-meaning to that statement…

On the other side of the ring, Blake Belladona also saw the look her white-haired teammate/girlfriend now sported.

Blake sighed.

“Is this your answer to everything now?” she turned to her partner/other girlfriend, her normally untamable blonde hair tied up in a ponytail.

“What? Are you complaining?” Yang sent Blake a sidelong smirk and a wink. The blonde also made a quick flex that was _totally_ meant as some last-minute stretching and not at all meant to show off her rippling muscles through a shirt that, by _complete accident_ , was just a few sizes too small for her.

“I never said that.” Blake replied with a small smile of her own, before also remembering that Yang’s face was a little higher than where she was currently looking.

Yang’s smirk grew to a full face-splitting grin at that.

The blonde was about to make another quip when she heard the low growl coming from the opposite corner.

“Hey Yang? Can we get this started?” Ruby called over, “Weiss _really_ wants to kick your ass.”

Blake and Yang looked to each other before chuckling.

“I suppose that’s our cue.” Blake said as they both walked to the center of the ring, the other half of their team joining them.

Ruby still looked rather befuddled at the current situation.

Blake just looked bemused, and just a _little_ eager for the show.

Yang had the same cocky smirk she wore every time she entered the ring.

And Weiss looked… _disturbingly_ eager.

Blake moved between Weiss and Yang. Seeing as how she was dating both of them, Blake was elected to serve as referee.

“Okay, standard rules apply, single round, no time limit. Winner gets… I don’t know, to sleep with me tonight?”

“Works for me.” Yang chirped.

“Sure.” Weiss drawled.

It was clear that the ‘jealous lovers’ pretense had pretty much gone out the window by this point. Right now, both girls just wanted to fight.

“Alright, uh… whenever you’re ready I guess.” Blake finished before backing away with Ruby to the edge of the ring.

Weiss let out a low breath, psyching herself out, trying not to think about the fact that she’d never even _worn_ boxing gloves before, that she’d only _seen_ a _couple_ of Yang’s matches, that she had no idea what she was doing and _why on Remnant did I ever think was a good idea?!!_

“So… you want the first hit, Weiss?” Yang’s words broke the heiress from her thoughts and focused her entirely on the blonde, with her friendly words of encouragement, her sparkling eyes and that _Oum-fucking-damned cocky smile of hers._

_Ah, right. That’s why._

Weiss never thought punching someone in the face could _feel so good._

\------------------------------------------

“You know, I’m impressed. She’d doing a lot better than I thought.” Blake spoke as she and Ruby observed the ongoing fight.

“Yeah! GO WEISS! We believe in you!”

_Well, I wouldn’t go THAT far…_ Blake thought to herself.

Up in the ring, Weiss might have thought how there was no possibly way she was doing as well as she was. Or rather, she might have thought that if her current thoughts consisted of anything other than ‘PUNCH SEXY BLONDE’.

The thing is, in a fight, momentum is one hell of a force-multiplier.

From that first punch to Yang’s face, Weiss Just. Hadn’t. Stopped. Punching.

One hit after the other in rapid succession rained onto Yang like a hailstorm.

Weiss wasn’t thinking at the moment. The only thing going through her head was the sheer, blind _rage_ that’d been building over the last ten hours.

It didn’t matter that she’d quickly abandoned her original target of ‘Yang’s smug, sexy face’ and opted instead to just throw as many punches in Yang’s general direction as she could.

It didn’t matter that a good third or more of those punches weren’t even hitting Yang, and of those that did, only about half were hitting anywhere that might actually hurt.

It didn’t matter that even through her boxing gloves, Weiss’s fingers and hands were beginning to smart and sore from the repeated impacts against something much harder than themselves. Were Weiss in a more cognitive state at the moment, she might have noted that Yang’s jokes about her ‘iron abs’ and ‘boobs of steel’ were less joking than she might have thought.

Weiss didn’t care about any of that.

All she saw right now was everyone and everything responsible for all the _shit_ she’d gone through today. The asshole from Team CRDL for spilling coffee on her. Jaune for being a dumbass who couldn’t take a fucking hint. Professor Tremaine for having a ridiculously unfair tardiness policy. Whoever it was that scheduled those morning classes that pulled Weiss’s teammates away from her and forced her to face this utter disaster of a day _alone_.

Weiss continued punching at Yang with reckless abandon, all the simmering frustration and rage of the day finally unleashed.

Then Yang took a long back-step and suddenly Weiss’s punches were hitting nothing but air.

Suddenly the cloud of rage and hate in front of Weiss’s eyes lifted, and everything was brought into clear, stark focus.

The fact that Yang barely had a scratch or bruise on her from Weiss’s furious assault, just looking disheveled and sweaty and sexy…

That Yang was now winding up for a punch of her own, the thick, sinewy muscles rippling and pulsing under her tight shirt.

And Weiss was pretty sure she’d just heard the blonde whisper _‘My turn.’_

Oh dear…

It was a credit to Weiss’s raw combat experience that she even thought to bring her gloves up to defend while also trying to duck out of the way.

Even with all that, Weiss still felt the piercing sting and crushing impact as Yang’s gloved fist slammed into her. Weiss was sent stumbling back and nearly keeled over entirely.

Okay, Weiss was back to reality now, and the thought of just how bull-headed, ridiculous and _plain fucking STUPID_ this idea was came crashing down on her.

One punch. _ONE Oum-damned punch!_ That’s all Yang needed to nearly send Weiss tumbling head over heels! _WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE THINKING?!!_

Though… now that Weiss thought about it… She’d seen Yang do a whole lot _worse_ with one punch before… In fact, she’d seen Yang send Cardin Winchester _flying out of the ring_ with one punch (a sight that Weiss enjoyed _immensely_ ). So why wasn’t _she_ currently airborn?

Actually… why did she even have the _time to think?_ Shouldn’t Yang be throwing more punches right now?

That was when Weiss noticed that Yang hadn’t moved from her spot since throwing that punch. The blonde was just… _standing there_ , her gloved hands held in an almost casual manner.

And then there was the look on Yang’s beautiful face. It was friendly, welcoming… _encouraging_. Like she was _so damn confident Weiss didn’t stand a chance, she was just going to stand there and FUCKING TAKE IT!!_

And with that, all the rage came flooding back.

With a strangled cry of indignant rage, Weiss charged her blonde teammate.

No more was Weiss projecting others who’d wronged her today onto the blonde. Now all she saw was Yang herself. And all the rage and frustration Weiss felt at her.

More wild and crazed punches flew at Weiss’s teammate.

Weiss didn’t actually _hate_ Yang. It was just that the blonde could be _so damn INFURIATING_. With her horrible puns, constantly sunny disposition, the ease at which she seemed to make friends, her constantly surprising insight into how her friends were feeling, and the way she’d jump into their problems when they’d prefer to just be left alone to suffer. That… _incredible_ body of hers. The way Yang seemed to be everything Weiss _wasn’t_ , and so many things Weiss _wished_ she could be. Whereas Weiss was cold and distant like the winter ice, Yang just seemed to light things up like a warm summer day. And those rare times when Weiss couldn’t see Yang as anything else but an older, more beautiful version of Ruby…

Weiss could feel her eyes beginning to water as she redoubled her assault, pouring all of her rage and frustration at her horrible day, at Yang, at _herself_ into her punches.

The small part of Weiss’s mind still capable of tactical decision making noted that Yang was actually making an effort to _block_ her punches now.

Weiss couldn’t have that.

With a final cry of frustration, Weiss hurled herself at Yang, hitting the blonde with a full-body tackle that sent both girls tumbling to the ground.

As she propped herself up on her hands and knees, Weiss shook her head, trying to clear the haze that gripped her for the last few moments. Then she realized her current position.

Somehow, someway, against _all possible odds_ , that fantasy she indulged in earlier _had come true_. Here was Yang, on her back, _pinned underneath Weiss’s grip_.

Of course, her fantasy hadn’t come _completely_ true. Yang wasn’t really writhing.

Instead, the blonde was still smiling.

Except… it wasn’t the smug, cocky grin Weiss first thought it was. It was… _friendly_ … _encouraging_. The smile Yang would give Ruby whenever her little sister was feeling down, or give Blake whenever she was depressed. It was the kind of smile Yang gave whenever she was trying to help someone.

“You feeling better now?”

Weiss felt her thoughts come to a screeching halt at Yang’s question.

“What?”

Weiss croaked out the single word even as her stressed, emotion-overloaded brain tried to reboot.

“Well, you looked like you were having a pretty shitty day, so I figured you needed something to totally wail on for a little bit.”

The only reason Weiss’s jaw wasn’t currently on the floor was because her head was angled the wrong way for gravity to pull it there. Yang _could not be serious_.

“You… You did _all this_ just so you could be my _punching bag?_ ”

Yang shrugged.

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

She was serious.

“… _Why?_ ” was all Weiss could breath out.

“Well, who else was gonna do it? I mean, you had some pretty crazy swings there. It that was Jaune or Dove you were wailing on, they’d probably be going to the infirmary right now. Can’t have you getting in trouble for punching some random dude’s teeth in, can we?”

Weiss was… _flabbergasted_.

Never mind the fact that Yang was apparently praising her hand-to-hand combat ability, never mind the fact that Weiss apparently just _beat Yang_ , never mind the fact that Yang sprawled on the ground underneath Weiss with her wild blonde hair splayed out on the floor in a halo around her head made for _quite the attractive image_ …

Apparently, Yang had seen how much of a shitty day Weiss was having, had deduced that it was only a matter of time before her teammate snapped and maimed and/or murdered somebody and decided that the best way to help her was to use _herself_ as an outlet for Weiss. Yang’s plan was to basically turn herself into a proverbial lightning rod for all of Weiss’s rage, anger and frustration. To just have Weiss _punch her over and over again until she was feeling better_.

And somehow…

Against _all. Fucking. Odds…_

It worked.

Only a few minutes ago, Weiss had been stewing like an active volcano about to blow. It’d felt like the entire world was out to get her, to make her life a living hell, to keep everything she loved just _a little_ out of reach. And Weiss kept it in, kept it contained, under control like a girl of her standing should. And yet it felt like if _one more fucking thing went wrong…_ Weiss would probably have frozen the entire school in one big block of ice.

But now… Weiss could barely remember what all that anger even felt like. It was like all the rage and frustration was just _drained_ right out of her. Weiss couldn’t _remember_ the last time… actually, _was there_ even a time she’d just… _cut loose_ like that? Weiss certainly couldn’t remember any time she’d been that… uncontrolled. Just, as Yang put it, _wailing_ on something for a while.

Now all that Weiss felt was… light. Free. Unburdened from all the messiness she’d had to face today. Like all the problems in her life didn’t matter. The only other times Weiss could remember feeling like this were those special moments she shared with Ruby or Blake.

And all thanks to the crazy, beautiful idiot of a teammate underneath her. With her annoying habit of butting into her friends’ problems… and giving them _exactly_ what they needed.

It was all just so… _Yang._

“So… are you feeling bett-MMPPphhgg…”

And Oum help her, Weiss loved her for it.

\--------------------------------------------

“Huh.” Blake spoke as she watched two of her girlfriends make out, “Déjà vu.”

“You think it was this hot when we did it?” Ruby asked. Also, was it weird that seeing her girlfriend and her sister make out was _super hot?_

Eh, she’d worry about that later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, orchestrating catfights that end in sexy make-out sessions is now Yang's answer to all relationship problems :)
> 
> But seriously, this was actually a pretty weird chapter to write. I've never been a huge fan of Freezerburn, but after writing this, I think I finally found the trick behind it:  
> Weiss being VIOLENTLY tsundere to Yang. And yeah, this chapter is entirely based around that exchange of Weiss telling Ruby she wants to punch Yang in the face :D
> 
> NEXT TIME: The Most Awkward Conversation. Ever. Of All Time.
> 
> Yep. Enabler is happening :D


	4. The Most Awkward Conversation Ever... Of All Time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in honor of seeing Ruby and Yang (hopefully) kick some serious ass this week, I give you...
> 
> Super-Awkward first-time Enabler Feels!
> 
> Yay?

It was a dark day in the realm of Team RWBY.

A heavy silence hung in the room that served as Team RWBY’s home. A silence that none could break (save for the small corgi gnawing on a rubber toy in a corner).

A silence which was an indicator of the pervasive aura that covered them all. An aura of uncertainty. An aura of disbelief. An aura of sheer, bloody… _awkwardness_.

The true epitome of the awkward silence.

In the center of the room, on the edge of a single, large bed sat the four members of Team RWBY, or rather, team WRYB, given their current arrangement. On the left and right most sides sat the white and dark-haired members of the team. While they weren’t really part of the problem, Weiss and Blake kept their silence nonetheless, a showing of solidarity for their teammates and girlfriends.

While Blake didn’t quite have a frame of reference for the current situation, she was nonetheless doing her best to be sympathetic and supportive to her teammates/girlfriends.

Weiss on the other, _did_ have a frame of reference, and could _completely_ understand what her teammates/girlfriends were going through. If… _this_ ever happened with her and Winter… Weiss quickly obliterated that thought with a vengeance.

Needless to say, their teammates had Weiss’s and Blake’s utmost sympathy for their current predicament.

Even if they both found the inciting event itself to be… kinda hot.

Just a little.

And in the center, of both the group and the subject of the team’s current woes, sat Ruby and Yang. Next to each other, yet looking _anywhere_ but at each other.

“So…” Ruby tried to begin, then quit.

“So…” Yang also tried to start, but then quit.

Silence once again filled the room.

“You know in hindsight, we probably should have seen this coming.” Ruby spoke up, finally managing a complete sentence.

“Yeah…” Yang agreed. It _was_ pretty obvious in hindsight. After all, they were both dating the same two girls, who also happened to be dating each other as well, all of which involved frequent rounds of passionate love-making. And with Team RWBY cutting out the proverbial middlemen and all four of them going at it at once, it was really only a matter of time before Ruby and Yang wound up… up…

“…Was… Was I at least… nice?” Ruby ventured, _very_ uneasily.

“Not important right now, Ruby!” Yang spoke back.

Silence returned.

“…But… yeah, you were… good.” Yang added.

The room descended into silence once again.

“Well… does it really _count_ if it’s above the belt?” Ruby tried, “I mean, it’s not like you haven’t shoved my face in you boobs before…”

“I’m pretty sure none of those times were when I was actually topless. Or involved you _sucking on them_.” Yang drawled in response.

“Well… there was that one time…”

“WHAT?!” For the first time that morning, Yang actually looked at her sister, even if she was starting to go white, “When?!”

“Uh…” Ruby was also looking at her sister, obviously surprised at the outburst. “Like… six years ago? That time we snuck a bottle of Uncle Qrow’s booze because I thought it gave him super Huntsman powers and you thought it might give you fire-breathing powers? And we got _super_ drunk and you showed me your boobs and then you asked me if I wanted practice for when I got an awesome girlfriend and that was kinda how I realized I was gay?”

Yang was now paler than Weiss’s hair.

“Oh gods, I thought I dreamt that part.”

“But I mean, we still kept it above the belt… That doesn’t make it so bad, right?” Ruby ventured.

“Uh, actually…” Weiss awkwardly spoke up.

Yang and Ruby froze.

“Yeah… I’m pretty certain Weiss and I were fingering each other when you two… er…” Blake trailed off, an apologetic look on her face. Like she was immediately regretting what she just said and keeping her teammates from blissful ignorance.

“Ohh…” Ruby trailed off, her hands balling together as the implications of Blake’s statement sank in, an uncomfortable hissing coming through her clenched teeth, like she was bracing herself for an eminent explosion.

Yang, meanwhile, had snapped right back to ‘Schnee Pale’.

“Oh Gods…” the blonde whimpered, “What are we going to do?”

“Well…” Weiss started, “There _are_ campus counselors. Maybe you two could go tal-”

“NO!” Yang suddenly shouted, “Nope! No. Nadda. Not _happening!_ ”

“I… think it might be worth talking to _someone_ about this.” Blake ventured, clearly walking on proverbial eggshells around her frazzled partner.

“…And _who_ exactly is going to have the frame of reference for _accidentally having sex with your sister?”_

Ruby gasped. “Yang! We _do_ know someone who might know what we’re going through!”

“Ruby, who are you talking about… Oh.” Yang began to question, then ground to a halt as realization set in. “You… You really aren’t saying we should-”

“Yang, who _else_ do we know? And who else can we _trust?”_

Yang thought about it for a moment. “I’m still not sure about this…”

“Don’t worry, Yang! I’m sure he can help us!” Ruby flashed her sister a smile.

“We can do this!”

* * *

“Yang! I changed my mind! I don’t want to do this!”

“Too late! We’re doing this!” Yang replied as she practically dragged Ruby into their house.

Dad wasn’t home, _thank the gods._ They’d already had Weiss and Blake call to covertly check that he was still at Signal Academy, and would stay there for the rest of the day.

After that was a fifteen minute airship ride into Vale, followed by a thirty minute airship ride over to Patch and finally a forty-five minute walk to their childhood home. A trip that Yang spent in almost complete silence, torn between wondering how she was going to ask how to deal with just having had sex with her sister, and _not wanting to think about having had sex with her sister!_

Ruby on the other hand, spent almost the entire trip in complete non-silence. At first she’d tried to convince Yang that this was a good idea, then at some point started trying to convince _herself_ this was a good idea, then apparently _failed_ around the time they got to Patch, and spent the walk to their house descending into more and more terrified ramblings.

Honestly, hearing her sister motormouthing was a welcome distraction to Yang. At first, it was rather sweet that Ruby was doing her best to console and convince Yang that things would be okay, and hearing her slip awkwardly from trying to convince Yang to trying to convince herself made for a rather cute distraction for Yang.

At least until Yang’s thoughts of how adorable her little sister was conjured up the image of a sultry-looking, sweat-covered Ruby hovering above her chest, throaty moans escaping Yang’s mouth as Ruby’s tongue flicked against Yang’s nipp-

And that was the point where Yang just tried to _stop thinking altogether!_

“Seriously Yang! I don’t think we need to do this!” Ruby yelped desperately as Yang literally hauled her through the kitchen, heading into the living room.

“Nope. Still doing this.” Right now, Yang was pretty much running on autopilot.

“Maybe we _don’t_ need to talk to Uncle Qrow-”

“Don’t need to talk to me about what?” came a drawl from behind them.

Both girls froze. Their only sound was Ruby’s mildly pained grunt as she was unceremoniously dropped to the floor.

Leaning against the living room wall, right next to the doorway they’d just passed through was the tall, lanky form of Qrow Branwen, hands in his pockets and looking like he hadn’t a care in the world.

“Ah! Uncle Qrow!” Ruby started as she shot to her feet, “I… guess we… uh…” she looked to Yang, hoping her sister could properly articulate… something.

“Uhhhhh…” Unfortunately, Yang looked to be only mildly below ‘deer in the headlights’.

“Okay!” Ruby spoke up, trying again “So… you see we, uh…”

“Lemme’ guess.” Their Uncle cut Ruby off, “You two did something really stupid and you don’t want Papa Tai finding out, so you’re looking for your good ol’ shifty Uncle Qrow for some advice.” The senior huntsman gave the girls a knowing smirk, “That about right?”

Ruby and Yang looked to each other for a moment before looking back to their Uncle.

“Kinda…?”/“Yeah, pretty much.”

Qrow chuckled as he pushed himself off the wall.

“Well then, why don’t we step into my office? Don’t want Tai conveniently walking in right as you girls are spilling the deep, dark secret, do we?” Qrow gestured for the girls to follow him upstairs.

“Yeeaahh… That would be bad.” Ruby agreed as she followed.

For her part, Yang was… actually starting to feel a little hopeful as she fell into step behind her sister.

Maybe… maybe this _would_ help.

 Qrow’s ‘office’ was actually the small, mildly dingy bedroom he used whenever he was staying over. Closing the door behind them, he motioned for the girls to take a seat on the bed while he sat down in a desk chair.

“Alright, so what’s the problem?”

Ruby and Yang were silent as they shifted awkwardly.

“You can tell me anything, you know? No judgment.” Qrow tried again.

The girls remained silent.

“…Good grief, what _did_ you two do?”

Ruby and Yang still fidgeted.

“Look, I figured this went without saying, but I can promise you, Tai _will not_ _know_ about this? Okay?”

The fidgeting continued.

“…Do you need to hide a body?”

“What?! NO!” Ruby squeaked out, “We… we don’t need _that_ kinda help!”

“Alright, that’s good to hear.” Qrow gave Ruby a reassuring nod.

“Yeah… that’s not quite the problem we’re dealing with.” Yang actually managed a light chuckle. Surprisingly, Qrow’s suggestion and Ruby’s reaction managed to jolt a bit of sense back into Yang. The realization that this situation might not be as bad as it felt.

Of course, that didn’t mean talking about it was going to be much easier.

“Okay…” Yang started, “You know how me and Ruby are dating our partners, Blake and Weiss, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Qrow nodded, a knowing look starting to form on his face.

“Well…” Ruby picked up for Yang, “A little while ago, I just started dating Blake, and Yang started dating Weiss and… well…”

“Okay, I know where you’re going with this.” Qrow held up a hand to stop Ruby, giving both girls a reassuring smile, “There is _absolutely nothing_ wrong with the whole group-hunter team, poly-relationship thing. Sure, it’s not exactly common, but plenty of Hunter teams at least give it a try. Heck, me, Tai and your moms did it and it worked out pretty good for a while.”

“Yeah… we already knew about all that…” Yang answered.

“The thing is… that’s actually the reason we wanted to talk to you.” Ruby picked up from her sister. It seemed like them taking turns with the explanation was making this whole ordeal easier. Like Ruby and Yang were somehow sharing the load of all the awkwardness.

“We… know you and Dad were a thing, and both our moms were also together…” Yang spoke.

“We… wanted to ask about you… and Aunt Raven…” Ruby took over.

Both girls had ceased making eye-contact with their Uncle, so they didn’t really notice as Qrow’s expression fell… along with the amount of blood in his face.

“So… Uncle Qrow… I guess what we’re trying to ask is…”

Oh, but Qrow did have a _pretty good_ idea of what the girls were asking.

He was just _hoping beyond all hope_ that is wasn’t what he was thinking.

Yang was scratching her head at maximum awkwardness as she spoke. “…Did you and my mom ever… you know…?”

“Did you and Aunt Raven ever fuck?!” Ruby suddenly blurted out. “There, I said it…” she added even as she looked away awkwardly.

Silence reigned.

“So…” Qrow spoke very slowly, “You two…?”

Ruby and Yang nodded awkwardly.

Silence continued, until Qrow finally spoke again.

“Okay then.” Qrow suddenly declared

Ruby and Yang were suddenly hopeful. Maybe their uncle could in fact impart some wisdom on this terribly awkward situation.

Qrow Branwen stood up to his full height, took a long swig of his flask…

…and immediately dove out the window.

When Ruby and Yang finally processed what just happened and ran over to the window, all they could see was a lone crow flapping its way over the horizon.

* * *

“Well. That could’ve gone better.”

That was a piss poor attempt at making light of the situation and Yang knew it.

But frankly, she was running out of options. Cracking lame jokes was the only thing Yang had left to divert her attention from… _that_.

Ruby on the other hand, hadn’t said a word.

It was practically a role reversal from their trip over to Patch a few hours earlier. Whereas then Yang was stewing in an awkward silence while Ruby became progressively more antsy, trying to convince Yang and herself that their Uncle could give some advice to their situation.

Now, it was Yang who was desperately trying to bring some brevity to their situation, while Ruby had been deathly silent practically since they left the house.

Thankfully very few people travelled from Patch to Vale on a Tuesday evening, so Ruby and Yang had the air-ferry compartment to themselves.

“You know, it was actually kind of funny seeing Uncle Qrow just dive out a window there, don’t you think?” Yang let out a _very_ strained chuckle. She was _really_ running out of options here. She was painfully aware of how much she was squirming in her seat.

That was when a small hand came to rest on her arm.

“Ruby?” Yang glanced to her sister.

“Yang, are you… ashamed? Of me?”

Oh no.

Yang had been mentally preparing herself for as many outcomes for Ruby’s long silence as she could think of. Ruby being pissed. Ruby being disgusted. Ruby blaming her for this whole horrible situation and never wanting to speak to her sister again. Basically, all variants of ‘Ruby being mad at her.’

But Ruby thinking that _Yang_ was angry at _her?_ That was _not_ prepared for.

Worse still, Ruby _wasn’t_ angry.

Ruby was _sad_.

Yang always considered herself a free spirit. A girl that didn’t care what society thought of her. A rebel that didn’t need to play by the rules. However, there was at least one rule that Yang did follow. A rule she held sacrosanct above all others:

_Don’t make Ruby SAD!_

“Ruby, No! Of course I’m not ashamed of you!” Yang whirled around in her seat to face Ruby.

“…It kinda feels like it.” Ruby mumbled, partly to herself, partly to Yang.

“Ruby… what’s wrong?” Yang ventured as she awkwardly turned herself fully towards Ruby, trying her best to shove all those weird and confusing thoughts aside, if only for a moment. If Ruby was feeling sad, then her shit could wait. Right now, Ruby needed her Cool Big Sis to be there for her, weird, confusing, incest feelings be damned!

“It’s just…” Ruby fidgeted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable, “You’ve been really freaking out all day about what we did… I guess I feel like… Like you hate me for it.”

“Ruby.” Yang put a hand on her sister’s shoulder, “There is _no possible way_ that I could _ever_ hate you. Ever. At all.” Even though Ruby wasn’t looking at her, Yang still flashed a wide, comforting smile.

“I guess…” Yang’s voice wavered a bit as thoughts of their current predicament resurfaced, “It’s what we _did_ that I ha-”

“And what if I _didn’t_ hate it?” Ruby suddenly turned to face her sister, an unreadable look on her face.

“…What?” Yang’s mouth now hung open, her expression dumbfounded by Ruby’s interruption.

“I mean…” Ruby looked away again, looking down again, “Yeah, it was _super_ weird this morning, but now… It doesn’t really feel like such a big deal. Or… it doesn’t feel worth getting so freaked out over.”

“Ruby, what are you saying?” Yang asked, trying to understand what her sister was saying.

Or rather, tried to convince herself she didn’t understand.

“I guess I’m saying that…” Ruby paused, taking a long breath, “I enjoyed it, Yang. I _liked_ having sex with you.”

There it was. Ruby said it. Part of Yang wanted to pull her hand away from Ruby’s shoulder in shock, but that thought was instantly crushed by ‘Cool Big Sis’ Yang. No way in _hell_ was she going to let Ruby think her big sister was going to abandon her. But then, there was another part of Yang that helped crush that traitorous thought…

“I mean… Yeah, I was pretty freaked out this morning too. And if somebody suggested it before last night I’d probably think it was kinda icky too. But now that we’ve done it…”

“Ruby… I…” Yang tried to speak, tried to put words to the chaotic mess that was her thoughts right now.

“I… I think I love you, Yang.” Ruby continued, “Not just as a sister, but also the same way that I love Weiss and Blake. Or… something _like_ how I love them… I’m not sure yet. This is still pretty new and weird.” Ruby gave Yang an awkwardly apologetic smile and shrug and all Yang could think for a moment was just how darn _cute_ it was.

“But, I do know this for sure,” And just like that, the awkwardness was gone, and Ruby had affixed Yang with a hard look of… _purpose._

“I _enjoyed_ what we did last night. And I… I don’t see how doing it is a bad thing.”

Silence filled the cabin. Ruby stared at Yang. Yang stared at Ruby.

Neither spoke.

Yang was about to… _try_ to say something when Ruby suddenly looked away, her determined look falling away.

“…Sorry about that. You’ve been freaking out about this all day and then here I go and make this big deal about enjoying it… I mean, what the hell am I doing? I… I’m sorry I just made this so much weirder an-”

“Ruby,” Yang started, squeezing the hand that was still on her sister’s shoulder, “that’s not… You…”

In that moment, part of Yang just wanted to pull Ruby into the biggest damn hug that she could. To tell Ruby there was no possible way this was going to come between them, no matter how much the act itself might bother Yang.

But… That was it, wasn’t it? The thing that’d been eating at Yang all day. The fact that deep down… it _didn’t_ bother her.

“I… I think you might be right.”

_She_ _had sex with her sister_.

Wasn’t that supposed to be very much _not okay?_

And yet every time Yang’s thoughts drifted back to the night before, thought about that moment when Ruby was on top of her, mouth on one of Yang’s breasts and her hand playing with the other one, while Yang’s own hand was snaking it’s way between Ruby’s legs…

 In that moment, it _wasn’t_ disgust she felt. She felt… _love_ , just as she’d always felt for Ruby. And also… _attraction_. The same attraction she felt for Blake and Weiss.

And _that_ was what had so confused, confounded and even _terrified_ Yang all day.

“Ruby, I…” Yang had to fight to get her words out, or maybe fight not to hold them back.

“I enjoyed it too.”

And there it was. She’d actually _said it_. She _admitted_ the thought that’d been crushing her mind all day. And now all that was left was…

Was…

…

“Well… that’s good, right?” Ruby tried, a tentative smile on her face.

“I… I… I don’t know!” Yang suddenly blurted out, “Is it?!”

Both of Yang’s hands were now gripping her forehead, as if desperately trying to keep her head from breaking apart from all the stress.

“We… We had _sex with each other_ , Ruby! We _enjoyed_ having sex with each other! Is… _is_ that okay?!” There was no sarcasm in her voice. Yang was genuinely baffled by the war of thoughts going on in her head.

Yang absently looked to Ruby for… _something._ _Any_ kind of answer.

 “Well, we _did_ both enjoy it… And it’s not like having sex is going to be _dangerous_ or anything, so… I guess there really isn’t anything wrong with it.” Ruby answered.

“…You really think so?” Yang replied uneasily. She still couldn’t stop thinking, about the possibilities, and _were_ there dangers?

“Well, somehow I doubt we could get pregnant doing this.” Ruby shrugged.

Yang’s thoughts stopped.

Then she _laughed_.

It was a quick bark of a laugh, but the sheer oddity of Ruby making a sarcastic pregnancy joke was enough to jolt Yang back to reality. Frankly, that was the kind of joke Yang would expect from _herself_ , and hearing _Ruby_ say it just added another layer of weirdness that made it all the funnier. Along with making Yang feel rather proud of her little sister finally making some dirty jokes.

Though despite Yang’s brief respite, that still left the big, unspoken question hanging between them.

Yang took a deep breath.

“Ruby… if we say this is _okay_ … Then that means we’re going to keep doing this. Keep… _having sex with each other._ ”

“Uh-huh.” Ruby nodded in agreement.

“Okay…” Yang breathed out, feeling an all new weight descend.

So that was it then. The ultimatum had been given. First posited from Yang, and then confirmed by Ruby. Yang knew if they said ‘yes’ to all this, there was no going back. That barrier would come down, never to be rebuilt.

Yang knew full-well where Ruby stood on this.

As for her…

It…

It was too much.

“Ruby, I… I’m not sure we, _I,_ can do this… This is still all so new and weird and confusing…” Yang slumped into her seat.

“Yang…” Ruby placed a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“This is… This is just too much to handle…” Yang continued to slump, defeated. Part of her wanted this so much, another part couldn’t stop wondering if it was _okay_ to want this so much.

“Well, can we… give it a _try_ at least?” Ruby ventured, “You know, just like… a kiss or something?”

“A… kiss?” Part of Yang was confused, another part was afraid, and another part was hopeful.

“Yeah, it’s not like we’ve actually _tried_ anything since last night. Maybe we could… You know, experiment?”

“Experiment, huh?” Yang almost sent a sardonic look at Ruby. It was pretty clear what Ruby was trying at.

Part of Yang wondered if it was okay for Ruby to be pushing her into this.

But then again, what was there to _push?_ Ruby was an adorable, _beautiful_ girl and a not-insignificant part of Yang was positively _giddy_ at the idea of a good kiss with her.

“…Okay.” Yang turned to her sister with a small smile. Maybe it was the fact that she just couldn’t refuse her sister, or maybe Yang just wanted to say yes before she thought about this anymore.

“So, how do you want t-”

That was when Ruby kissed her.

It was rather light, but in no way could be considered chaste. So much could have been going through Yang’s head; Confusion, happiness, disgust, lust, any number of things.

And yet the moment Ruby mashed their lips together, all thought seemed to vanish from Yang’s mind, leaving only a simple sense of… _content_.

Tilting her head slightly, Yang returned the kiss.

After a moment that seemed to last for hours, and yet not long enough, Yang and Ruby pulled away.

The two sisters stared at each other.

And Yang was struck by the sheer… _nothing_ that happened.

The world wasn’t ending. Reality wasn’t tearing itself apart. There were no magically appearing cultural-taboo enforcers carting her off to be burned at the stake.

Nothing.

Yang had just _made out with her sister_.

She’d just _enjoyed making out with her sister_.

And… there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

“Huh.”

“…Wow.” Ruby breathed out.

Yang just stared.

“…Yang?”

Yang continued to stare.

Then she began to chuckle.

And that chuckle quickly turned to laughter.

This… This was _it?_ _This_ was the thing that’d been freaking her out all day? This was _nothing!_

“Yang? Are you okay?” Ruby asked even as her sister’s hysterical laughter seemed to die down.

“Yeah… I’m good,” Yang breathed out. Then she smiled at her sister, “C’mere, you.”

And with that, Yang pulled Ruby into the biggest damn hug she could.

Ruby squeaked in surprise, but that shock quickly faded and Yang felt her sister return the hug.

“So… Not weird anymore?” Ruby asked.

“Nope.” Yang replied. In fact, there was no reason all this was weird in the first place. Here she was, cuddling with her adorable sister just as they had so many times before. 

It all seemed so _silly_ that all this was freaking her out so much just five minutes before. Was she _really_ so scared that this might come between them?

Really, what about this was any different from before?

Yang let out a yelp of surprise as a hand squeezed her left boob.

“Ruby!”

“I’m sorry! It’s just…” Ruby at least had the decency to look a _little_ ashamed, “You have _really_ nice boobs, Yang…”

“Okay you little perv,” Yang’s face split into a devilish grin, “let’s see how _you_ like it!” It was then Ruby’s turn to squeak in surprise as Yang’s own experienced fingers gave one of her breasts a squeeze.

…Alright, so there might be a few _new_ things they’d be doing together.

That was when Ruby let out a very distinct moan and Yang’s hand froze.

Both sisters were still. Kissing was one thing, but this…

“…Yang?” Ruby finally asked, uncertain.

“You know, maybe we should stick to kisses and cuddles for now.” Yang’s lips then curled into a sly smirk, “At least until we’re back in the room. Something tells me you’re not into the whole exhibition thing.”

Ruby seemed to take a moment to process this before her eyes widened and cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

“Oh… WOW, yeah… that’s… probably a good idea…”

“Besides…” Yang continued, “I’m sure Weiss and Blake would _love_ to join us…”

Ruby’s cheeks reddened further, but _not_ from embarrassment, and Yang was pretty sure there was some drool forming in the corner of her mouth.

“…Yeah… I like the sound of that…”

Yang chuckled, “Me too Rubes. Me too.”

With that, Yang pulled Ruby in for another kiss.   

Sure, this wasn’t exactly normal for sisters, but when the _fuck_ had either of them been _normal_?

“You’re, uh… a really good kisser, Yang.” Even as she face was still flushed a little, Ruby still managed that _adorable_ smile of hers.

“Yeah, you’re really good too Ruby.” Yang felt the warm smile spreading on her face as she looked down at her sister.

“I do think Weiss is better though.”

“Oh, _Definitely_. Weiss gives _amazing_ kisses.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, the Pollination is complete.
> 
> You ever get those ideas that sound simple and straightforward in your head, but as you write them they just snowball more and more because you just keep getting more and more ideas and just can't let them go? Like this was originally going to be just a funny little conversation between Ruby and Qrow on how to deal with being in a poly-ship that happens to include your sister, but then I felt like Yang should probably be in that conversation too and then I got a bit too into writing the introduction of how they get to Qrow and somewhere along the way this turned into a semi-serious exploration of how Enabler could actually happen, to the point where I pretty much scrapped the original conversation with Qrow entirely so Ruby and Yang could figure out their feelings themselves and... Yeah. Snowballing.
> 
> Also, yes, Qrow and Raven accidentally banged once too and Qrow is still kind of traumatized from the experience. Given what we've see of Raven, I kinda doubt she took it well. I imagine at least a few murder attempts followed.


	5. Team JNPR Would Really Like to Sleep

Beacon Academy could truly be considered a marvel of construction. The _ideal_ location for the training of each successive generation of Vale’s renowned monster slayers.

Of course, nothing is perfect, and Beacon Academy had its fair share of minor flaws. Like the fact that some rooms of the student dorms didn’t have all that good soundproofing.

Dorm rooms that were filled with hormonal teenagers.

And when the dorm’s residents would do those things that hormonal teenagers are want to do, it could be a bit… disturbing to their neighbors.

Now, normally, this wasn’t actually much of a problem. After all, there were always four people living in each of those rooms, and it was generally considered bad form for a couple to engage in rabid copulation while their teammates were present.

_“Ah… Ruby… Yes! Right there!”_

Of course, there are always exceptions.

_“Mmm… yeah Blake. Keeping going…”_

Like when the _entire team_ were the ones copulating.

_“Ah! Yang! DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING STOP!!”_

Such was the case this night with one Team RWBY. Four of Beacon’s best and brightest students who also happened to be one of those rare teams that took the concept of ‘Team Bonding’ to its logical conclusion.

_“I LOVE YOU GIRLS!!”_

This of course made things quite a bit… _awkward_ to the neighboring Team JNPR trying to sleep right across the hall.

For one Jaune Ark, this situation put him in a rather _confusing_ predicament.

On the one hand, Jaune generally considered himself to be a very much heterosexual male, and as the such, the sounds of four attractive young ladies engaging in passionate love-making conjured up all kinds of… _appealing_ mental images. After all, he’d always been attracted to Weiss, and Blake was certainly easy on the eyes too.

But then there were the _other_ two members of Team RWBY. For you see, Jaune was never attracted to them. Not because they weren’t pretty, but Ruby and Yang just happened to bare a notable resemblance to two of Jaune’s own sisters. Ruby especially in the way she could invariable dive to the heart of any of Jaune’s problems and give him a proverbial or literal smack on the head for being an idiot. And the fact that Ruby and Yang were themselves sisters (if only _half_ sisters) only made the resemblance more noticeable to Jaune.

And because of this notable resemblance, Jaune couldn’t help creating the rather _awkward_ mental images of two of his sisters having sex with Weiss and Blake. Jaune was wondering whether this was a good or bad thin-

_“Okay Rubbles, time for a kiss!”_

_“…”_

_“Nu-uh, not with_ those _lips…”_

Okay, now Jaune wasn’t wondering anymore.

_‘Oh sweet Dust MAKE IT STOP!’_ Jaune gave an anguished mental cry as horrifying mental images of his sisters rubbing their naughty bits together filled his mind.

In the bed next to Jaune’s, unaware of the mental trauma her leader was currently going through, Pyrrha Nikos had a different problem.

She certainly didn't have a problem with Ruby’s and Yang’s openness with each other. After all, both were clearly happy and not hurting anyone, so who was she to judge of their business?

No, Pyrrha’s problem with this whole situation was that it was making her… _feel_ things. Things she wasn’t sure how to feel about…

Pyrrha always considered herself straight as an arrow. She’d had her fair share of crushes growing up, even a couple boyfriends before her incredible talent and reputation made her all but unapproachable. There were also plenty of rather risqué fantasies she’d indulged in from time to time. And of course, there was the substantial crush Pyrrha had been developing on her blonde team leader over the last couple years.

But the sounds Pyrrha was hearing right now, the sounds of the four admittedly quite attractive ladies of Team RWBY having sex was, well… it was _hot._

And there was a part of Pyrrha, a _growing_ part, that wished she was there too. Not just to _observe_ , but to be a _part of i-_

NO! No, if she was going to fantasize, she could just fantasize about Jaune!

Yes, the tall, blonde, strapping, funny, sweet, caring boy Pyrrha had fallen for… though honestly Yang was just as tall, even _more_ strapping, had _great_ hair, was super sweet, had better jokes, plus an _amazing_ rac-

GAH! NO! Not what Pyrrha was going for! Okay, Jaune was a no-go. Maybe Pyrrha might as well make up an imaginary man to occupy her thoughts. Sure, that felt like a betrayal to her team leader/crush, but these were desperate times! Someone the _opposite_ of Jaune (and by extension, Yang.) Someone dark and mysterious… Yeah! Someone quiet, roguish and dashing. A loner who didn’t play by the rules, but was insightful and deep down possessed a hidden heart of gold. And maybe a cute pair of cat ears…

DAMN IT! Now was describing Blake!

Okay, Okay! Someone else. Maybe someone not so nice? Someone ordinarily haughty and uptight but who would turn to an awkward mushy pile of cuteness around that one girl they tried so hard to pretend they didn’t like. Maybe they’re from a rich family that stifled their childhood and maybe they were a great singer with white hair and-

NO! Not Weiss either!

Okay fine, just a cute guy! Someone small and adorable whom Pyrrha could scoop up into her arms and cuddle all day long just like that time Pyrrha’d seen Ruby with Blake in the lounge and just wished so hard she was in the faunus’s place…

…Yeah, she was just describing Ruby now.

DICKS! She liked DICKS! Big, meaty phallus’s that could stretch her out and… that actually sounded pretty painful. Maybe some more careful experimentation was in order. Like with Yang’s collection of various-sized dildos that Pyrrha just… _happened_ to hear about, and perhaps the blonde could give her some advice. Maybe some _hands-on_ advice… And maybe the rest of RWBY could join in and…

Pyrrha groaned in annoyance at the many fantasies that _just wouldn’t leave_.

In the next bed, Nora Valkyrie had a rather different problem. Unlike her two teammates, she had absolutely no problem with the sounds of their neighboring team making sweet, _sweet_ love to each other. Also unlike Pyrrha, Nora already fully embraced her bisexuality years ago. To Nora, the idea of Team RWBY engaging in frequent flirtatious four-ways was quite frankly, hot as all hell.

No, Nora’s problem at the moment was not so much with Team RWBY as with her own teammates.

Specifically, the fact that _they weren’t doing the same!_

For you see, while Team RWBY had, over the past year, embraced every last potential pairing and group between themselves, from White Rose to Bumblebee to Ladybug to Freezerburn and more, Team JNPR’s many potential combinations remained very much… _un-embraced_. Jaune and Pyrrha were still pussy-footing around each other and Ren was _still_ not picking up on all the subtle hints Nora’d been dropping for the past _TEN YEARS_. She _knew_ Ren found her attractive so _why the hell weren’t they shacking up already?!_

And they had so much more potential too! Team RWBY was all girls, while Team JNPR was two girls and two guys. More diversity! Two different sets of naughty bits! Could Team RWBY boast that?

And the worst part of all of it was that Team RWBY kept _rubbing her face in this fact!_

_‘Oh, look at us, we’re Team RWBY. We got over all our annoying sexual tension and tedious romantic drama and now we’re having awesome kinky foursomes! Sucks to be you, Nora! Enjoy your boring, not-having-sex team!’_

_‘GAAH! Fuck you RWBY! Or… not fuck… er… **GAAAAHHH!!!** ’_

And as for the forth bed belonging to one Lie Ren?

There was nothing. For at this moment, there was no Lie Ren.

The bed’s sheets were suddenly cast aside and a dark figure emerged from beneath them.

With footfalls that fell with the weight of the damned, the black shape that was once Lie Ren stomped its way past the other beds, crossed the threshold into the hall and stood before the door of Team RWBY.

A fist was raised…

(BANG) “WILL!” (BANG) “YOU!” (BANG) “KEEP!” (BANG) “IT!” (BANG) “THE!” (BANG) “FUCK!” (BANG) “DOWN!” (BANG) “WE!” (BANG) “ARE!” (BANG) “TRYING!” (BANG) “TO!” (BANG) “SLEEP!” (BANG)

Silence reigned.

_“Uh… yeah, sure. Sorry Ren.”_ Ruby’s soft, somewhat terrified voice came from behind the door.

And with a grunt of acknowledgement, the ghastly specter returned to JNPR’s room and his bed.

All was quiet.

_‘Oh thank Oum. And Ren. Seriously, thank you Ren.’_ Jaune Ark thought. No more mentally scarring and/or sexually traumatizing thoughts giving him horrifying mental images of his sisters.

_‘Maybe this if for the best.’_ Pyrrha thought. Now she could just push all these weird and confusing thoughts away and pretend this whole thing never happened.

_‘Well, at least they’re not rubbing it in my face anymore.’_ Nora thought. Team RWBY could do their thing and JNPR could do theirs.

And Ren thought nothing, for he was drifting peacefully off to sleep.

Then there was a creek.

Team JNPR’s door slowly opened a crack. And the soft pitter-patter of little feet filled the room.

The sound passed the first three beds before a small dark shape leapt up onto the forth.

Ren’s eyes cracked open at the new weight on top of him to see Team RWBY’s pet corgi deposit an object onto his chest.

Ruby’s custom, top-of-the-line, noise-canceling headphones.

“Ah. Thank you.” Ren nodded in understanding.

Zwei gave a soft bark of acknowledgment as Ren put the headphones on, the corgi jumping back off the bed and returning to the door, where he gave a louder bark across the hall.

_“Thanks Zwei!”_ came Ruby’s voice from the room.

The corgi proceeded to close JNPR’s door and promptly fell over to sleep.

_“Now, where were we?”_

_“I do believe you were worshipping the glorious Bella-booty?”_

_“…Ruby, please shut your sister up.”_

_“On it!”_

_“Worship that booty Weiss! Worship i-mpphhm…”_

_“…”_

_“…So you’re_ not _going to worsh-?”_

_“Of course I am! C’mere.”_

And so, the night continued as usual.

_‘Graphen-flurgen…’_ Nora ground her teeth with righteous hormonal indignation.

_‘…Alright. Guess I’m gay now.’_ Pyrrha mused in resignation as countless mental images filled her head.

_‘…murgle…’_ Jaune on the other hand had nothing to think as horrifying mental images of his sisters drove him into a semi-comatose state.

_‘zzzzzzzzz’_ And Ren? Ren was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story, I've actually been siting on this idea since about Volume 1. Or at least the bits with Jaune getting traumatized and Ren the Sleep-Wraith.
> 
> Also debating whether Pyrrha's awkward affection/lust for Team RWBY deserves it's own spinoff...


	6. The SECOND Most Awkward Conversation, Ever... Of All Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a lot of people were interested in a Qrow and/or Tai focused follow-up to the Enabler chapter.
> 
> This is... sort-of that.
> 
> Kinda.

Most people who knew Qrow Branwen tended to assume he had one constant state:

Drunk. Constantly sloshed and never apart from a seemingly unending flask on his hip.

However, for the people that _really_ knew Qrow, people like Tai, Yang and Ruby, his family, things were different.

There was ‘normal’ drunk Qrow, the mellow, laid-back, ‘cool uncle’ who occationally dispensed nuggets of sarcastic wisdom

Then there was ‘fake’ drunk Qrow, the times where he played up the drunken antics to get the drop on an unsuspecting mark. Or if he just felt like being an asshole for funzies.

Then there were the times Qrow really _was_ drunk. The times when he’d hit the _really_ hard stuff.  Not to forget, mind you. If there was a drink that could do _that,_ Qrow would have found it by now.

The times when Tai had to carry him home on his back like when they were kids, and pretend not to notice the tears soaking into his shirt, or the murmurings of names between the quiet sobs. Names that Tai himself knew all too well.

That was what Tai was expecting when he got a few incomprehensible texts from Qrow at 1AM, mostly gibberish aside from a mention of Ruby, Yang, himself and… Raven. The situation seemed pretty clear to Tai all the way to the nearly empty dive near the outskirts of Vale where he found Qrow leaning over the bar top.

But that was the point where things _stopped_ being clear. Like how Qrow _wasn’t_ in the throes of depression and self-loathing. Instead Qrow looked a strange combination of confused, flabbergasted and traumatized. Tai honestly wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Ten minutes and one explanation later, Tai _did_ know what to make of the state Qrow was in. Because Tai was now sitting right next to his teammate downing just as much booze as he was.

As it turned out, Ruby and Yang had apparently followed their aunt’s/mother’s and uncle’s footsteps into one of the more… uncomfortable parts of Team STRQ’s history.

Specifically, his girls had… had…

Yeah, even in his own head, Tai couldn’t say it.

On the one hand, there was the ‘Dad’ part of him that said all this didn’t matter one damn bit. That he was still going to love and cherish those two amazing girls he had raised and so long as they were safe and happy, there was no way he _wouldn’t_ accept and support _any_ path they wanted to take their lives.

On the _other_ hand, there was the ‘socially acceptable’ part of Tai that couldn’t help but think… this was _really weird_.

It’s wasn’t like he had _any_ problem with how the girls had been… experimenting up to now, and certainly no problem with their chosen romantic partners.

Sure, maybe the Belladonna girl Yang was dating reminded him a _little_ too much of Raven at first and made him a tad uneasy, but that cleared up fairly quickly after Tai gave her the obligatory ‘Girlfriend’s Scary, Overprotective Dad’ talk.

And frankly, that Weiss girl reminded him _so_ much of a 17-year-old Qrow that it took a herculean amount of effort on Tai’s part to get through their first meeting without laughing his ass off.

But this… this was…

“You think this is karma?” Tai spoke up.

“Karma?” Qrow looked up from his drink.

“Yeah, because I thought it was really funny when you and Raven accidentally fucked and you got traumatized and Raven spent the next day trying to sort-of murder you.”

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ‘sort-of’.” Qrow drawled, “I’ve still got scars, and I’m fairly positive she was going for my neck when Summer jumped her.”

“Oh yeah,” Tai chuckled at the suddenly onset of nostalgia, “first public indecency charge.” Kinda funny that between Qrow’s so-called ‘Kilt incidents’ and Tai’s… _issues_ with shirts back in the day, it turned out to be Summer ‘Constantly huddled in my cloak’ Rose and Raven ‘I Store my Katana up my ass’ Branwen who were the first of the team to get thrown in holding for showing their naughty bits in public.

Qrow thought it was all pretty ironic at first, but after a two hour debate with Summer, Raven and Tai on the definition of irony while they were waiting for bail, they came to the conclusion that the situation, while not _totally_ ironic, was nonetheless quite odd in an unexpected way that defied their normal circumstances.

Good times…

…

And now Tai was sad again.

“Somehow… I can’t help but feel like this is somehow Raven’s fault.”

“Tai, you know you can’t blame everything on her.”

“No, but I can blame her for a lot of things. Qrow, I loved her, hells, I STILL love her, but even you have to admit your sister was a hot mess.”

“I’m pretty sure we were ALL hot messes.” Qrow answered, “Still are, too.”

Tai let out a humorless chuckle.

“Can’t argue with that.”

The two men descended into silence for several minutes.

Finally, Tai spoke up.

“You think maybe… in the grand scheme of things, this probably isn’t all that much of a big deal?”

“…Yeah, probably.” Qrow answered, “I mean, hell, those two girls already took this whole thing a _lot_ better than me and Raven did.”

“So, the girls are happy and safe, and that’s all that matters?” Tai managed to give Qrow a smile.

“Works for me.” Qrow replied with his own smile, raising his glass.

The two former teammates clinked their glasses together before finishing them off.

Yeah, this was fine. Frankly, with the amount of shit they signed up for, those girls deserved whatever bits of happiness that wanted.

That was when Qrow’s scroll started to ring.

“Ye’-low?” he answered.

_“Uh… hey Uncle Qrow?”_ Yang’s clearly uneasy voice came over the line.

“Yang? Everything okay?” Qrow asked. He was pretty sure he could hear Ruby and the other two squirts talking the background.

_“Well… Not exactly. So uh… do you remember the other day when you asked me and Ruby if we needed to hide a body?”_

“Uh-huh.”

_“Does that offer still stand?”_

Honestly, Qrow had to restrain a bemused chuckle. Speaking of the shit the girls signed up for…

“Okay Yang, where are you? Are you all okay?”

_“Yeah, we’re… mostly okay, and uh… an alley off of North Avenue…”_

As Yang described the location, Qrow’s trained ear could hear the other voices in the background.

_“Ruby, Ruby, sweetie, it’s okay. He’s… He’s just sleeping, that’s al-”_

_“SLEEPING PEOPLE HEADS DON’T BEND LIKE THAT WEISS! WHAT THE FUCK?!”_

_“I’M SORRY! I don’t know what I’m doing! We may have just murdered somebody, you’re freaking out and I’m trying to calm you down because I love you!”_

_“Uh… thanks… I love you too!”_

_“…and about two blocks west of York Street.”_ Yang finished her description.

“Alright, you girls sit tight. We’re on our way.”

_“Thanks. I gotta go. I’m pretty sure Ruby needs a hug right now.”_

“Yeah, sounds like it.” Qrow answered as Yang ended the call.

“So what’s up?” Tai asked as Qrow put his scroll away.

“Well, apparently the girls just pulled a Drunk Rosebird.”

“Oh. That all?” frankly, Tai was almost relieved at something actually straightforward to be concerned about. “I’ll get the car.”

“I’ll get my kit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Team STRQ did some wetwork for Ozpin back in the day, so I figure Qrow and Tai are very familiar with proper body-disposal.
> 
> Also, has anyone else noticed how easily Red vs. Blue jokes fit with RWBY characters?


	7. Pollination+/- Part 1: Barbershop Triplet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...Because I felt calling it 'Pyrrha Nikos's Incredibly Gay Journey' was too obvious.
> 
> Part 1 of 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hereby dub this ship: BARBERSHOP!
> 
> (because Barbershops have a red and white pole)

Pyrrha Nikos was anxious.

Kinda bored too, but mostly anxious.

Fidgeting slightly, Pyrrha did her best not to show just how antsy she was feeling waiting outside the Light Bright movie theater. She’d stopped pacing about five minutes ago after she noticed the odd looks she was getting from the elderly ticket attendant.

But then again, could anyone really blame her for being anxious?

After _months_ of trying to work up the courage, she’d _finally_ managed to ask Jaune, her team leader and partner that she’d been nursing a crush on for almost two years, out on a proper date.

An act that was _in no way_ spurred on by Pyrrha’s desperate need for something to distract her from the rapidly developing attraction/affection/lust she was feeling for the collective of Team RWBY. None. Whatsoever.

…

…Okay, so maybe it had _something_ to do with it.

Oh, she was still _definitely_ attracted to Jaune. It was just… her attraction towards Team RWBY was quickly growing so much… _more_.

So in light of all these new, strange and confusing feelings, Pyrrha thought the best option was to finally try and pull the trigger on the relationship that felt much… safer. …If also boring…

Pulling her hand out of her pocket, Pyrrha looked at her scroll for what was probably the fifth time in the last two minutes.

Assuming her partner would actually _get here._

Suddenly, Pyrrha felt her scroll vibrate. Yanking it out of her pocket so fast she almost dropped it, Pyrrha glanced hopefully at the screen.

_‘Pyrrha I’m so sorry! I forgot I had an extra course with Prof Oobleck today and you know how he is about being tardy I’ll make it up to you I promise! So sorry_ _L_ _’_

Pyrrha starred at the message for a long moment.

Then gave out a rather uncharacteristic groan of disappointment and frustration.

So much for _that_ plan.

In Jaune’s defense, Pyrrha hadn’t exactly given him a lot of warning, having practically sprung the offer out of nowhere less than a day ago. And between the additional classes required of team leaders and the extra courses Jaune himself was taking to make up for his _unique_ academic situation…

Pyrrha sighed. Despite the… ulterior motives, part of Pyrrha had actually been looking forward to spending some one-on-one time with Jaune. He might have had his shortcomings, but Jaune was still a very sweet guy, and Pyrrha could never say she didn’t enjoy hanging out with him.

She’d even dressed up a little for the occasion. It wasn’t anything fancy, but Pyrrha did think the white blouse, red skirt and brown jacket she’d bought looked pretty good on her.

Still… there really wasn’t much she could do about this, despite how generally dejected Pyrrha felt.

She supposed she might as well hea-

_“Pyrrrrhhhhaaa~!”_

Pyrrha squeaked in surprise as a red, black and rose-petal-covered blur glomped her.

Stumbling a bit at the added weight now hanging from her shoulders, Pyrrha turned her head to find herself now face-to-face with the bright, silver-eyed smile of Ruby Rose.

“Hi!”

“R-Ruby!” Pyrrha tried to collect herself, a surprising flushness suddenly rising on her face, “w-what are you doing here?”

“Sayin’ Hi.” Ruby answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Uh…” Pyrrha’s brain was currently rather stalled, between the surprise at this sudden development, the lingering depression she’d been feeling just a moment ago and thoughts about just how _completely adorable_ the girl hanging off her was.

“You’ll have to forgive my leader,” came a new, dulcet and refined voice. Pyrrha, now knocked a bit back to reality, looked to see Weiss Schnee approaching them, “She’s a _complete_ dolt.” Despite the normally insulting meaning of the word, Weiss’s tone, expression and demeanor conveyed nothing but playful affection for her partner.

“Oh you’re just jealous!” Ruby stuck her tongue out at her partner before holding onto Pyrrha a little tighter, though like Weiss, her tone sounded entirely playful.

Oddly enough, despite Ruby’s joking assertions, Weiss seemed in no way jealous or even uncomfortable with the affection her girlfriend was showering on another girl. Though considering how much more openly affectionate Ruby had become to others after she’d started dating her teammates, Weiss might just be used to this sort of thing by now.

Then again, it wasn’t like Ruby was going around giving flying hugs to _everyone_. In fact, outside of her teammates/girlfriends, the only people Pyrrha had seen receive that kind of affection from Ruby were her father and uncle the few times they’d visited Beacon, that oddly metallic-feeling Penny girl whenever she visited from Atlas, Coco and Velvet from Team CFVY one time, and… Pyrrha herself, on _multiple occasions…_

“I have to say Pyrrha,” Weiss continued, knocking Pyrrha from her thoughts, “you’re looking very nice today.” Weiss was giving Pyrrha an approving smile.

“Yeah! You look great Pyrrha.” Ruby agreed as she dropped back to the ground. “Got a date?” Ruby added, giving Pyrrha a rather mischievous grin.

“Yes…” Pyrrha started before remembering the text she’d just gotten, “…well… Jaune and I… _had_ a date.”

“Wait, Jaune stood you up?” Weiss asked, eyes widening in surprise.

“…Yeah, kinda.” Pyrrha relented, feeling the dejection set back in. Justified or not, that didn’t mean having the date cancelled didn’t _feel_ a bit like rejection.

Ruby audibly gasped.

“Weiss! We can’t just leave her out here!”

Pyrrha was taken aback a bit by this sudden development, “Really, girls. It’s no bi-”

“Agreed,” Weiss’s face was suddenly one of utmost seriousness, “Pyrrha. You’re coming with us.”

“Wait, wh-Eep!” Pyrrha squeaked again as she was yanked forward by both girls. Not _forcefully_ , as that would imply there wasn’t a part of Pyrrha that found this new development… appealing.

“Really, girls, this isn’t necessary…” Pyrrha tried to protest.

“Yes it is.” Ruby spoke up, “As Leader of Team RWBY, I am officially inviting you to join me and Weiss on our weekly ice cream date!”

“You… uh… you girls really don’t need to do this…”

“Pyrrha. We are your _friends_.” Weiss gave Pyrrha a surprisingly determined smile, “There is _no way_ we are letting you mope all over Vale feeling depressed when we can help.”

“Yeah!” Ruby chimed in, pulling herself in close to Pyrrha and giving her a big, bright smile.

“Well… okay.” Pyrrha relented, trying very hard not to think about the part of herself that was practically _cheering_ at this new development…

* * *

“…So Weiss and I finally find Blake and Yang cuddling in our room, Weiss starts asking them where the hell they were, and Blake just _‘Hisses’_ at Weiss. Seriously, like an _actual cat_. It was amazing!” Ruby recounted between bites out of a bowl of at least three different varieties of chocolate ice cream.

Pyrrha had to admit, she was enjoying this.

She was enjoying this _a lot_.

“Apparently Blake was pretty woozy and burned out from a couple all-nighters and ended up passing out on Yang, and Yang just couldn’t bring herself to move Blake.” Weiss clarified, eye’s rolling in bemusement at her team’s many antics before taking a sip of her milkshake.

“To be fair, if Blake fell asleep on me, I don’t think I could move her either.”

Between the two members of Team RWBY in the booth the three girls were sharing, Pyrrha could barely contain the stream of giggles that threatened to burst loose from the mental picture her two friends were painting. She’d had to take a break from her own milkshake from fear of choking!

It was strange. After a little while, the initial awkwardness Pyrrha was previously feeling around Ruby and Weiss quickly faded and was replaced with nothing but simple contentment.

“I know the feeling,” Pyrrha spoke up, “Lately Nora’s been sneaking into Ren’s bed at night, and she gets so clingy that in the morning, Jaune and I have to help Ren pry her off of him.” Pyrrha rolled her eyes in bemusement at her own team’s antics as she took another sip of her shake.

The fact that this Ice Cream Shop had one of the best milkshakes Pyrrha had ever tasted helped too.

“Oh, yeah, Blake does that with Yang _all_ the time!” Ruby responded, “Though… Yang doesn’t really need me and Weiss’s help in the morning…”

“Yes, usually Yang doesn’t even try and get Blake off of her;” Weiss took over, “she’ll just get up and go through her morning routine with a sleeping catgirl clinging to her. Usually it’s only when Yang hops in the shower that Blake gets off.”

Pyrrha giggled at that mental image.

“Yeah, at least a _few_ times.” Ruby said just slightly under her breath, giving Weiss a knowing smirk. To her credit, Weiss only blushed a _little_ while rolling her eyes at the innuendo.

Pyrrha on the other hand, nearly choked on her milkshake as she thought of _that_ mental image.

* * *

It was hard to say how a simple ‘Ice-cream Date’ somehow snowballed to include a trip to the Vale Museum of Art, as well as a game store and a book shop.

Not that Pyrrha was _at all_ complaining. This was easily the best day she’d had in _months_.

It was amazing that Ruby and Weiss seemed to be doing their very best to make her feel welcome. Pyrrha was certain she’d be nothing but a third wheel, but instead Ruby and Weiss made sure to include her in everything. It was obvious that both girls were happy to have Pyrrha along, and at no point did Pyrrha feel like Ruby or Weiss were somehow jealous of the attention her partner was giving Pyrrha.

If anything, the only jealousy Ruby or Weiss ever seemed to show was towards _each other_ , like they were competing for Pyrrha’s affection. Admittedly, any ‘jealousy’ seemed to be nothing more than playful joking and teasing from both girls. Even so, Pyrrha couldn’t help but feel flattered by the gestures and all the affection.

With all these new, strange feelings Pyrrha was having, it was easy to forget that Ruby and Weiss were still two of Pyrrha’s closest friends.

When Pyrrha first met Weiss, she’d considered the Schnee to be little more than just another haughty aristocrat who thought she was better than everyone else. Back then, her praise towards Pyrrha seemed like just some selfish attempt at power-playing, no different than so many other nobles and aristocrats back in Mistral who seemed to think of Pyrrha as little more than a potential tool for their ambitions.

Now though, Pyrrha felt a distinct desire to apologize to Weiss for thinking of her that way. Underneath all that icy exterior, Weiss was an incredibly driven, intelligent, thoughtful and overall kind girl who wanted to do some real good for the world. And it was clear her praise towards Pyrrha was rooted in very genuine admiration and incredible respect for Pyrrha. But unlike so many others, Weiss never seemed to put her up on some kind of unassailable pedestal. To Weiss, Pyrrha was an equal. An equal that was better than her in a number of areas, sure, but always a fellow student, huntress and friend.

And Ruby… what else could Pyrrha say about Ruby?

She was just… just the _cutest_. A bright, exuberant, _very_ friendly girl with a simple, earnest desire to _help people_. And cute. Really, _really,_ cute. Like, sometimes Pyrrha just wanted to scoop this girl up and cuddle her all day long.

Not only that, but underneath all that friendliness was a determination that Pyrrha couldn’t help but be awed by. When Pyrrha first met Ruby, she’d never have guessed such a bright, optimistic girl like her had a childhood that… well, made Pyrrha want to give Ruby a hug for different reasons. And yet in spite of all that, Ruby still possessed an incredible optimism and general faith in humanity that seemed utterly unbreakable.

It seemed like everyone who attended Beacon had some ulterior motive driving them to become a Hunter, be it status, fame, power, self-worth or any number of other things, with Pyrrha herself being no different.

But not Ruby. For her, there was no complicated quandary or personal issues driving her. She just wanted to _help people_. Simple as that.

And ever since Ruby and Weiss had become a couple, part of Pyrrha couldn’t help feeling just a bit jealous whenever she saw them together. Ruby and Weiss both looked so happy together, it made Pyrrha wish she could have something like that too. Maybe with Jaune, or maybe with someone else. But the fact remained that Pyrrha _didn’t_ have something like what Ruby and Weiss had. Being pulled along on this date should have just highlighted that fact.

And yet…

It was like they’d just welcomed her into their little unit, no questions asked.

It all made Pyrrha incredibly thankful to have friends like them.

“So… you feeling better now, Pyrrha?” Ruby asked as the three girls stepped off the air-ferry back at Beacon, the sun setting behind them.

“Yes. _Much_ better,” Pyrrha answered, smiling back at Ruby, “I had a lot of fun today.” Pyrrha could scarcely remember the dejection she’d been feeling that morning when the two girls found her, or even the stress and anxiety she’d been feeling before that.

“Thank you, both of you.” Pyrrha gave Weiss a warm smile as well.

“It was our pleasure,” Weiss replied with a smile of her own, “You’re welcome to join us again sometime.”

“Yeah! We should totally do this again!” Ruby piped up in agreement.

“I think I like the sound of that.” Pyrrha gave both girls a smile.

“Though we should probably make sure it’s all three of us at a time…” Weiss spoke up.

“Really?” Pyrrha asked, taken aback a little, “Is there a problem?” Specifying that she shouldn’t spend time with Ruby and Weiss individually but only together seemed rather odd…

“Well…” Ruby spoke up, “if you start spending time with either of us one-on-one, then Yang will probably kidnap you and rope me and Weiss into catfighting over you.”

“Uh…” Pyrrha honestly had no idea how to reply to that.

“Long story.” Weiss waved off, “Trust me, it doesn’t get any less stupid sounding in context.”

“…Right.” Pyrrha admitted. It seemed like that was the case for a lot of Team RWBY’s antics. And it wasn’t like spending time with these two girls together was any less appealing.

“Well… see you two later.” Pyrrha said, though she had a feeling what was about to happen.

“Goodnight Pyrrha!” And Ruby did not disappoint, pulling Pyrrha into a big hug. Surprisingly though, Ruby wasn’t the only one hugging, as Weiss also pulled Pyrrha into a hug alongside her girlfriend.

Pyrrha couldn’t resist. Even as she felt her face heat up, Pyrrha returned the hug to both her friends. It was just impossible to refuse the affection they were both showering her with.

Then Ruby gave Pyrrha’s neck a _very_ affectionate nuzzling and Weiss gave her _a kiss on the cheek_.

With that, the two members of team RWBY withdrew, returning to their dorm as Pyrrha waved them goodbye.

A moment passed.

Then Pyrrha was certain her face _was_ _about to catch on fire_ it had gotten so hot!

_What the sweet, tap-dancing Oum was THAT?!!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, can someone explain to me why Ruby/Weiss/Pyrrha isn't a thing? I mean they've got perfectly obvious ship-name and everything! At least Blake/Yang/Pyrrha has a few bits of art. Speaking of which...
> 
> Next time: A fascinating treatise on the Bombus population in the Eprius region of Greece. For some strange reason, magnets, cats and puns are involved.


End file.
